Georgia takes No. 1 in the second CFP rankings, with Utah, Alabama, UCLA and Notre Dame next. See the full top 25, the big movers and the bracket dates.
Georgia is back at No. 1 in the College Football Playoff rankings, the selection committee announced Tuesday night, Nov. 10. Utah is No. 2, Alabama No. 3, unbeaten UCLA No. 4 and Notre Dame jumped from 11th to 5th, according to the CFP's own release. Miami, last week's No. 1, fell to No. 7 after Notre Dame beat the Hurricanes on Saturday.
What is the full CFP top 25 for Nov. 10?
This is the list as the committee published it, with overall records and last week's spot in parentheses:
- 1. Georgia, 8-1 (2)
- 2. Utah, 9-0 (3)
- 3. Alabama, 7-2 (5)
- 4. UCLA, 9-0 (8)
- 5. Notre Dame, 8-1 (11)
- 6. Texas, 7-2 (7)
- 7. Miami, 8-1 (1)
- 8. Tennessee, 7-2 (13)
- 9. Indiana, 8-1 (4)
- 10. BYU, 7-2 (9)
- 11. Kentucky, 7-2 (6)
- 12. Texas Tech, 8-1 (15)
- 13. Wake Forest, 8-1 (16)
- 14. Houston, 7-2 (17)
- 15. Iowa, 7-2 (19)
- 16. Oregon, 6-3 (23)
- 17. South Carolina, 6-3 (21)
- 18. USC, 7-2 (20)
- 19. Ole Miss, 6-3 (10)
- 20. Ohio State, 6-3 (12)
- 21. LSU, 6-3 (14)
- 22. Missouri, 6-3 (18)
- 23. Arizona, 7-2 (22)
- 24. Boise State, 8-1 (25)
- 25. Oklahoma State, 6-3 (not ranked)
Florida, which sat at No. 24 last week, dropped out. Oklahoma State returns to the rankings for the first time since the 2023 season, the CFP says.
What changed the most?
Notre Dame's move is the headline. The CFP says it is the first team in the playoff era to go from outside the top 10 into the top five in a single week. Oregon rose seven spots to No. 16, Tennessee rose five to No. 8 and UCLA rose four, to its highest CFP ranking ever.
The CFP's release also points to some firsts for the top of the list. Utah's No. 2 is the best ranking in its history. UCLA and Utah are the only unbeaten teams left in the FBS entering Week 11, and the CFP says having just two unbeaten teams at this point matches the fewest in CFP history, which was 2014. Alabama at No. 3 with two losses is the earliest in a season that a two-loss team has been in the top four. Houston's No. 14 is its highest ranking in program history, and Boise State at No. 24 remains the highest-ranked team from a Group of Six conference.
The biggest drops came after what the CFP called Separation Saturday, when eight top-25 teams lost. Ole Miss fell nine spots, Ohio State eight and LSU seven.
What does it mean for the bracket?
Under the 12-team format we explained after the first rankings, the top four teams in the rankings get the top four seeds and first-round byes whether or not they win their conferences. If the field were set today, that would be Georgia, Utah, Alabama and UCLA. Indiana, last year's national champion and No. 4 last week, would be out of the top four at No. 9. Because conference champions also get automatic spots, we are not going to guess the other eight seeds from this list alone.
The dates are set. First-round games are on Dec. 18 and 19, quarterfinals begin with the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 30 and three more on Jan. 1, the semifinals are the Orange Bowl on Jan. 14 and the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 15, and the national championship is Jan. 25 in Las Vegas, all per the CFP's site. A CFP graphic gives Selection Day as Dec. 6.
What we make of it
This is our analysis, not reporting. The committee put a lot of weight on who you beat last Saturday. Notre Dame took the biggest swing because it beat the top-ranked team, and Miami fell six places for a single loss. That is a clear message to teams in the middle of the top 12: one result against a ranked opponent can move you a long way in either direction, so these rankings are not a safe guide to December.
The most interesting spot is No. 3. A two-loss Alabama team ahead of unbeaten UCLA in the top four is a reminder that the committee looks at strength of schedule, not just records. Expect that argument to continue, especially if UCLA keeps winning. It is also worth remembering that a ranking is not a seed, and the committee has more than three weeks before Selection Day.
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Picture credit: College Football Playoff
