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Our rankings vs. the CFP committee

Week 10 · through games of Oct. 31, 2026 · committee rankings of Nov. 3, 2026 · updated Nov. 4, 2026

Our own Top 25, built with the College Football Playoff selection committee's published protocol, next to the committee's real rankings. Same rules, same games, our analysis.

AP, Coaches and CFP polls · Where we differ · Bracket · Method · Sources

Color key: green = we rank the team higher than the committee does; red = we rank it lower; black = same rank.

Ours	Team	Record	Why	CFP	Diff.	SOS
1	Miami	8-0	Unbeaten with no soft spots: won at Wake Forest and outscored FBS opponents by 24.1 a game.	1	same	49
2	Georgia	7-1	Won 20-17 at Alabama and beat Florida 27-8; the one loss was 27-24 at home to Auburn (4-4).	2	same	35
3	Utah	8-0	Unbeaten Big 12 leader with a 21-13 win over Houston; schedule strength is the weak spot.	3	same	83
4	Texas	6-2	Three wins over committee top-13 teams (Ohio State, at Tennessee, Ole Miss); losses to Oklahoma and Florida.	7	+3	9
5	Alabama	6-2	Won 45-17 at Kentucky and beat South Carolina 49-18; lost 20-17 to Georgia and 26-10 at Tennessee.	5	same	7
6	UCLA	8-0	Unbeaten Big Ten leader with a 17-15 win at Oregon; 3-0 since losing QB Nico Iamaleava for the season.	8	+2	77
7	Indiana	8-1	No wins over ranked teams and a 19-15 home loss to Ohio State; last three wins by 3, 7 and 7.	4	−3	31
8	Kentucky	7-1	Beat LSU 35-34 and won 35-34 at South Carolina, but lost 45-17 at home to Alabama; +4.7 a game against FBS.	6	−2	8
9	BYU	7-1	Beat Notre Dame 28-24 and Arizona 28-17; lost 39-31 at UCF.	9	same	45
10	Ole Miss	6-2	Beat LSU and Missouri (31-3); lost 52-28 at Florida and 34-27 at Texas.	10	same	4
11	Ohio State	6-2	Won 19-15 at Indiana and 31-14 at Iowa; lost 24-23 at Texas and 30-18 at USC, its first game without QB Julian Sayin.	12	+1	10
12	Notre Dame	7-1	Best scoring margin against FBS opponents in the country (+27.0) but no ranked wins; lost 28-24 at BYU.	11	−1	55
13	Tennessee	6-2	Beat Alabama 26-10; lost 20-17 to Texas and 27-24 at South Carolina.	13	same	25
14	Texas Tech	7-1	Beat Houston 28-26 and Arizona 34-26; lost 37-24 at Cincinnati.	15	+1	68
15	LSU	6-2	+20.6 a game against FBS but no ranked wins; lost at Ole Miss and by one point at Kentucky.	14	−1	23
16	USC	7-2	Beat Ohio State 30-18 and won 31-23 at Penn State; lost 41-27 at home to Oregon and 24-7 at Wisconsin.	20	+4	27
17	Wake Forest	7-1	Only loss was 33-20 to Miami, but no ranked wins.	16	−1	43
18	Houston	6-2	Both losses to ranked teams (28-26 at Texas Tech, 21-13 at Utah); no ranked wins.	17	−1	28
19	Missouri	6-2	Beat Florida 45-17; lost 31-24 at Mississippi State and 31-3 at Ole Miss.	18	−1	29
20	South Carolina	5-3	Beat Tennessee, Florida and Oklahoma; three losses include Mississippi State.	21	+1	15
21	Iowa	6-2	Won 20-19 at Michigan and beat Iowa State; lost to Ohio State and 13-10 at Minnesota.	19	−2	36
22	Florida	5-3	Beat Texas and Ole Miss against one of the three toughest schedules; lost to Missouri, South Carolina and Georgia.	24	+2	3
23	Arizona	6-2	Both losses to ranked teams (BYU, Texas Tech); no ranked wins.	22	−1	52
24	Oregon	5-3	Beat USC, Boise State and Northwestern; QB Dante Moore out since Sept. 26 and +1.6 a game against FBS.	23	−1	21
25	Boise State	7-1	Only loss was 34-27 at Oregon; best Group of Five resume.	25	same	79

CFP = the committee's rank. Diff. = how many spots higher (+) or lower (−) we rank the team. SOS = ESPN's strength-of-schedule rank among 138 FBS teams for games played (links go to each team's ESPN schedule).

Both lists have the same 25 teams; only the order differs.

Where we differ

Texas, 4th (committee 7th): head-to-head and common opponents. Texas beat Ohio State, who beat Indiana, and beat Tennessee, who beat Alabama.
UCLA, 6th, above Indiana, 7th (committee 8th and 4th): UCLA leads the Big Ten at 5-0 to Indiana's 5-1, has a ranked win (at Oregon) and no losses. Indiana has no ranked wins.
Kentucky, 8th (committee 6th): below Alabama on head-to-head, and three wins came by one score. ESPN's strength of record has Kentucky 2nd, so this ranking rests on our analysis.
USC, 16th (committee 20th): beat Ohio State on Oct. 31 and won at Penn State. Ohio State stays ahead for its win at Indiana, USC's loss at Wisconsin, and because Ohio State lost without its starting QB.
Florida, 22nd (committee 24th): two top-10 wins and one of the three toughest schedules; still behind Missouri and South Carolina, who both beat it.
Small swaps: Ohio State and Notre Dame trade 11 and 12 (Ohio State's win at Indiana); Texas Tech and LSU trade 14 and 15 (Texas Tech has two ranked wins, LSU none).

Head-to-head results the order goes against: Tennessee over Alabama, Ohio State over Indiana, USC over Ohio State, and Florida over Texas and Ole Miss. In each case the higher team has one fewer loss or a clearly better overall resume.

Also considered: New Mexico (7-1), Northwestern (6-2, lost to Oregon), Liberty (7-1) and UTSA (7-1). New Mexico, Liberty and UTSA rank 80th or worse in ESPN's schedule strength.

If the season ended now

Our bracket. Byes: Miami, Georgia, Utah, Texas. First round: No. 12 Boise State at No. 5 Alabama; No. 11 Ohio State at No. 6 UCLA; No. 10 Ole Miss at No. 7 Indiana; No. 9 BYU at No. 8 Kentucky. First team out: Notre Dame.

Conference leaders used as champions: Miami (ACC), Georgia (SEC), Utah (Big 12), UCLA (Big Ten), Boise State (Mountain West, highest-ranked Group of Five).

Committee's bracket. Byes: Miami, Georgia, Utah, Indiana. First round: No. 12 Boise State at No. 5 Alabama; No. 11 Notre Dame at No. 6 Kentucky; No. 10 Ole Miss at No. 7 Texas; No. 9 BYU at No. 8 UCLA. (ESPN)

Method

We follow the CFP selection committee's protocol: rank teams on the field first. When teams look close, compare conference championships (none are decided yet, so we use current conference standing), strength of schedule, head-to-head results and results against common opponents.
We also weigh scoring margin, wins over teams in the committee's Top 25 (“ranked”) and key injuries reported by major outlets, as the protocol allows.
The bracket uses the 12-team format: the five highest-ranked conference champions get automatic bids, the next seven highest-ranked teams get at-large bids, and the four highest-ranked teams get the top seeds and byes.
Records, scores and margins come from ESPN's FBS scoreboard for games played through the date above. Strength of schedule is ESPN's rank for games played. Records match the committee's.
ESPN lists Notre Dame's Oct. 31 win over Navy as 35-13; we use ESPN's score. Spot an error? Email [email protected].