Boise State would earn an automatic bid by fulfilling the requirement that guarantees a playoff spot to the highest-ranked Group of Five champion (regardless of their overall national ranking). Ranked 24th in the nation, Boise State would be the 12th seed and would knock out Utah (the 12th-ranked team) from the playoff.
This would have them playing a first-round game against #5 seed Miami. The winner would then go on to play Ohio State (the 4th seed) in the next round.
Oregon sneaks in as the last at-large entry into the College Football Playoff in the 11th seed spot. They would play 6 seed Indiana in the first round of playoff games.
The winner would then go on to play the 3rd seed Notre Dame.
With Florida's loss this week, BYU is the big winner by rising to the 10th seed position based on national rankings.
As a 10th seed and receiver of an at-large bid, BYU would play a first-round game against 7-seed Alabama. The winner would go on to play Texas.
With Florida losing this weekend, Texas Tech has moved up higher in the rankings and would be the 9th seed in the bracket.
They would play LSU in a first-round game, with the winner going up against Georgia.
LSU jumps up to an 8th seed from last week, following Florida's loss, and would fill an at-large berth based on their ranking.
As an 8 seed, they would be the visiting team against the 9 seed, Texas Tech. The winner would play #1 Georgia.
Alabama would secure an at-large spot in the bracket based on their high overall rank. Their steady performances have them maintaining their 7th seed.
They would play BYU in the first round of the playoff, and then the winner would meet the #2 seed Texas in the next round.
Based on their current ranking, Indiana would make the field as an at -large bid and capture the 6th overall seed.
They would play Oregon in the first round of the playoffs. The winner would go on to play Notre Dame.
Miami would secure an automatic bid as the highest-ranked team in the ACC (we treat that as the conference's designated champion since we are looking into the future).
Their current ranking would place them as the 5th seed in a first-round game against Boise State.
Ohio State is the highest-rated Big 10 team, so we take that as them winning the Big 10 championship and an automatic bid.
As a 4th seed, they would get a first-round bye during the playoffs.
Notre Dame qualifies via the rule granting an automatic bid to the Fighting Irish whenever they finish in the top 12 of the final rankings. They grab a first-round bye, also, by holding a top-four position overall in the rankings.
Texas is still undefeated, but their win over Tennessee a couple of weekends ago was less than convincing. They had this past weekend off, and didn't see their ranking change.
Texas would enter the playoff as an at-large team based on their ranking. By placing in the top four overall regardless of conference championship status, they secure a first-round bye under the 2026 seeding format.
As the highest-ranked team in the SEC, we are ranking Georgia as the conference champion and awarding them the automatic bid. Their win over a spoiler Vanderbilt last weekend solidified their status as a strong team.
Because they rank among the top four teams overall, they would also earn a first-round bye as the top seed in the bracket.
