CFP rankings: Miami No. 1, full top 25 list

Miami is No. 1 for the first time in program history. See the full CFP top 25, the bracket as it stands, and the games that matter before Nov. 10.

The College Football Playoff selection committee put unbeaten Miami at No. 1 in its first rankings of 2026, released Tuesday night, Nov. 3. Georgia is No. 2, Utah No. 3 and defending national champion Indiana No. 4, according to the CFP's own release. Those four teams would get first-round byes if the bracket were set today. The next rankings arrive Tuesday, Nov. 10, at about 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Who is in the first CFP top 25 of 2026?

The rankings count games played through Saturday, Oct. 31. Here is the full list as the CFP published it, with overall records:

Miami (8-0)
Georgia (7-1)
Utah (8-0)
Indiana (8-1)
Alabama (6-2)
Kentucky (7-1)
Texas (6-2)
UCLA (8-0)
BYU (7-1)
Ole Miss (6-2)
Notre Dame (7-1)
Ohio State (6-2)
Tennessee (6-2)
LSU (6-2)
Texas Tech (7-1)
Wake Forest (7-1)
Houston (6-2)
Missouri (6-2)
Iowa (6-2)
USC (7-2)
South Carolina (5-3)
Arizona (6-2)
Oregon (5-3)
Florida (5-3)
Boise State (7-1)

NCAA.com's count by conference: 10 SEC teams, six from the Big Ten, five from the Big 12 and two from the ACC. Notre Dame is the one independent, and Boise State is the lone Pac-12 team.

Why is Miami No. 1?

This is the first time Miami has ever held the top spot, the CFP says. The Hurricanes are the 11th program to be ranked No. 1 and the first from the ACC since Clemson in 2017. They are 8-0, and NCAA.com points out that only two of their games, against Florida State and North Carolina, have been close. ESPN adds a bit of history: Miami was not even in the committee's top 10 until the final rankings last season, then won three straight playoff games before losing the national title game to Indiana, 27-21.

Georgia is the highest-ranked one-loss team. Its loss came to Auburn, which is 4-4 and unranked, but NCAA.com says a win over Alabama and another over a ranked Florida team carried the Bulldogs to No. 2. Utah, also 8-0, is at its highest CFP ranking ever, and Kentucky (No. 6) and Houston (No. 17) set program highs too.

What would the 12-team bracket look like today?

The format changed this year. The top four teams in the rankings now get the top four seeds and byes, whether or not they win their conference title. The field is the champions of the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC, the highest-ranked champion from the other conferences, and the next seven best teams. Notre Dame gets in automatically if it finishes in the top 12.

On today's rankings, that gives Miami, Georgia, Utah and Indiana the byes. Fox Sports reports that Boise State, at No. 25, would take the last spot as the top-ranked team from outside the power conferences and face No. 5 Alabama. Using the usual 5-12, 6-11, 7-10 and 8-9 pairings, the other first-round games would be Kentucky vs. Notre Dame, Texas vs. Ole Miss and UCLA vs. BYU, with the higher seeds hosting on campus. That pairing is our reading of the format, not something the CFP has published. Ohio State, No. 12 in the rankings, would be the first team out, NCAA.com says, because Boise State's automatic bid takes that seed.

What is next before the Nov. 10 rankings?

NCAA.com lists these ranked-vs-ranked games for Week 10:

No. 1 Miami at No. 11 Notre Dame
No. 2 Georgia at No. 10 Ole Miss
No. 9 BYU at No. 3 Utah
No. 6 Kentucky at No. 13 Tennessee
No. 5 Alabama at No. 14 LSU
No. 7 Texas at No. 18 Missouri

The committee meets again Nov. 9-10. Selection Day is Sunday, Dec. 6. First-round games are Dec. 18 (8 p.m. ET) and Dec. 19 (noon, 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. ET), and the national championship is Jan. 25, 2027, at 7:30 p.m. ET, according to the CFP schedule.

Our take

This part is analysis, not reporting. The loudest argument this week will be Indiana at No. 4 with no ranked win, while Ohio State, which beat the Hoosiers, sits eight spots lower after a loss to USC. ESPN notes Indiana's last three wins were all by seven points or fewer, so that gap is going to get picked at. Still, it is one list out of six, and a lot of the top 12 plays each other in the next few weeks. Miami at Notre Dame is the first game that can really move the top line.