The College Football Playoff selection committee hands out its second top 25 of the season tonight, and this one starts with an argument at the very top. The Associated Press poll made Georgia its No. 1 team on Sunday. Two unbeaten teams, Utah and UCLA, are close behind the Bulldogs. Notre Dame just beat the team that used to be No. 1. Ohio State, ranked near the top all season, is sliding out of the picture. The reveal airs at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN, and every line of it will move the playoff race.
Georgia or the unbeatens: who gets No. 1?
Georgia (8-1) took 53 of the 70 first-place votes in the AP poll after the Bulldogs went on the road and routed Ole Miss 42-7 on Saturday. In the committee’s first rankings last week, Georgia sat at No. 2 behind Miami. The Hurricanes have now lost, so the top spot is open, and the Bulldogs hold the strongest claim based on results.
The counterargument wears a perfect record. Utah (9-0) is No. 2 in the AP poll with 12 first-place votes after beating rival BYU 28-20, and the Utes hold the highest regular season ranking in program history. UCLA (9-0) is No. 4 in the AP poll and 9-0 for the first time since 1998. But the committee started the Bruins at No. 8 last week, well below the voters. Watch tonight whether the committee follows the AP order at the top, and whether UCLA closes that gap or stays parked behind one-loss teams.
Notre Dame and Miami are tied together
Notre Dame (8-1) owns the best win of the weekend, a 31-24 victory over Miami on Saturday. The AP poll moved the Irish up to No. 3 and dropped the Hurricanes (8-1) to No. 5. Even that jump came with a catch: according to the AP, Notre Dame holds the lowest ranking for a top five team that just beat a No. 1 since Auburn in 2013.
Miami was No. 1 in the committee’s first rankings, so tonight shows the price of one loss. Because the Irish won the meeting on the field, the committee would have a hard time lifting Miami back in front of them. The real question is the distance between the two. If they land side by side, both stay in strong shape. If Miami sinks toward the bottom of the top 10, the Hurricanes spend the rest of November with almost no margin for error.
How far does Ohio State fall?
Two weeks ago, Ohio State was No. 2 in the AP poll. A loss at Southern California dropped the Buckeyes to No. 11, and Saturday’s 41-28 home loss to Oregon sent them to No. 21, their lowest AP ranking since 2014. At 6-3, Ohio State is no longer debating a first round bye. It is fighting to stay part of the conversation at all.
That makes the Buckeyes the most interesting name in the bottom half of tonight’s list. A spot in the teens keeps a narrow path open, if the committee still respects their schedule. A spot in the 20s would tell you the committee has largely moved on. Either way, the answer says a lot about how this group weighs a famous name with three losses.
The crowded middle decides the bracket
Only 12 teams make the playoff. The five highest ranked conference champions are guaranteed places, and the top four seeds earn first round byes, so every spot near the cut line matters twice. The AP poll currently stacks eight SEC teams in its top 25, including Alabama at No. 7, Texas at No. 8 and Tennessee at No. 9, with unbeaten Indiana at No. 6 for the Big Ten. The committee cannot fit everyone.
Pay attention to two things in the middle of the list. The first is which conference champion from outside the SEC and Big Ten sits highest, because that team holds the inside track to an automatic place. The second is the order of the one-loss SEC teams, since the committee’s pecking order tonight is the one those schools will have to climb out of in the final weeks.
How to watch tonight, and what comes next
The rankings show runs from about 9 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, between games of the Champions Classic, with Rece Davis hosting. Committee chair Hunter Yurachek, the Arkansas athletic director, is scheduled to speak after the reveal and explain the group’s thinking. This is the second of six rankings the committee will release this season. The list updates every Tuesday, and the final 12-team field is set on Selection Day, Sunday, December 6. Follow the fallout, and every score the rest of the way, in our Sports coverage.
Sources: Associated Press Top 25 poll via NBC Sports; Reuters; ESPN Press Room; NCAA.com; Athens Banner-Herald.