College Football Playoff rankings: Georgia takes over as top dawg; Indiana drops five spots on bye
· Yahoo Sports
The second iteration of the 2026 College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings was released on Tuesday night.
Last week’s inaugural rankings put a no-doubt team at the top: the previously undefeated Miami Hurricanes. After that, though, the rankings were once again heavily scrutinized as the committee appeared to place more weight on strength of schedule than head-to-head.
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The biggest difference between last week’s rankings and this week's is that the 24-team CFP officially starts next season. For now, the committee is still tasked with forming a 12-team playoff beginning next month.
This week saw a change at the top after the Hurricanes fell to Notre Dame last week. This caused Miami to fall six spots to No. 7, and Notre Dame to rise to No. 5.
New No. 1 Georgia obliterated No. 19 Ole Miss to reclaim the top spot in the CFP rankings. This week, the Bulldogs will go on the road to face the Missouri Tigers, who have lost two of their last three games.
Two FBS teams remain unbeaten: the No. 2 Utah Utes and the No. 4 UCLA Bruins. Utah’s win last week over No. 10 BYU helped the Utes move up to No. 2 in this week’s CFP rankings. This week, Utah takes on No. 23 Arizona on the road, while the Bruins will be at home against Illinois on Friday night.
Indiana drops five spots on bye week
The Hoosiers did not play last weekend. Yet, when the bracket was revealed on Tuesday night, Indiana’s name came up earlier than expected. Last week, the Hoosiers were ranked No. 4, but this week they were ranked No. 5.
The assumption on the bracket reveal show was that Indiana’s one loss—to Ohio State—looked worse after the Buckeyes lost their third game last weekend and fell in the rankings.
Three teams Indiana beat—Northwestern, Michigan, and Minnesota—also lost last weekend. It feels like the committee overcorrected by not playing Indiana, but the Hoosiers can make up for it with a convincing win over No. 18 USC this weekend.
What the 12-team playoff would look like if the season ended today. (Yahoo Sports/Dillon Minshall)College Football Playoff rankings
Georgia Bulldogs (8-1)
Utah Utes (9-0)
Alabama (7-2)
UCLA Bruins (9-0)
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-1)
Texas Longhorns (7-2)
Miami Hurricanes (8-1)
Tennessee Volunteers (7-2)
Indiana Hoosiers (8-1)
BYU Cougars (7-2)
Kentucky Wildcats (7-2)
Texas Tech Red Raiders (8-1)
Wake Forest Demon Deacons (8-1)
Houston Cougars (7-2)
Iowa Hawkeyes (7-2)
Oregon Ducks (6-3)
South Carolina Gamecocks (6-3)
USC Trojans (7-2)
Ole Miss Rebels (6-3)
Ohio State Buckeyes (6-3)
LSU Tigers (6-3)
Missouri Tigers (6-3)
Arizona Wildcats (7-2)
Boise State Broncos (8-1)
Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-3)
How could Week 11 shake up the rankings for next week?
Now that the rankings are out, we have a clearer look at this weekend's matchups.
There was hope that SMU would sneak into the top 25 to make the matchup against No. 13 Wake Forest mean a little more, but that didn’t happen. Still, that game could very well determine who Miami faces in the final ACC championship next month.
While the weekend has plenty of exciting matchups, none of them are between two teams currently projected to make the 12-team playoff.
Here is a look at the biggest matchups of the weekend with the updated ratings:
No. 7 Miami vs. Duke
No. 13 Wake Forest vs. SMU
No. 22 Missouri vs. No.
This post will be updated.