CFP Committee Names Miami No. 1 in First 2026 Rankings

Undefeated Miami claimed the No. 1 spot in the College Football Playoff selection committee’s first rankings of the 2026 season, released Tuesday night, with Georgia, Utah, Indiana and Alabama filling out the top five — while Notre Dame tumbled to No. 11 and Ohio State landed at No. 12, currently outside the 12-team playoff field.

Miami takes the top spot for the first time

The committee’s full Top 25, based on games played through Saturday, Oct. 31, puts Miami (8-0) at No. 1 for the first time in program history, making the Hurricanes the 11th program ever to hold the top spot in an initial CFP ranking and the first ACC team since Clemson in 2017. Georgia (7-1) sits at No. 2, Utah (8-0) at No. 3, Indiana (8-1) at No. 4 and two-loss Alabama at No. 5.

Miami, which also holds the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25, beat North Carolina 38-35 on Saturday in Chapel Hill. The Hurricanes were not included in the committee’s top 10 until the final rankings last season, when they were passed over in favor of Notre Dame despite a 27-24 Week 1 victory over the Irish, ESPN reported. Miami went on to win three straight CFP games before falling to Indiana 27-21 in last season’s national championship game.

Notre Dame falls to No. 11 without a signature win

The biggest jolt came at No. 11, where Notre Dame (7-1) landed seven spots below its AP poll position. Committee chair Hunter Yurachek said the Irish lack the signature victory the teams above them own.

But when you look at Notre Dame’s schedule, and the wins that they have versus the teams that are ahead of them, they don’t have that signature win right now.

Notre Dame’s biggest game so far produced its only loss — 28-24 at BYU on Oct. 17 — and its next-best win came at a neutral site, Yurachek noted. The Irish host Miami on Saturday in a game that could decide their playoff fate: if Notre Dame loses, its remaining opponents — Boston College, SMU and Syracuse — are all unranked, Yahoo Sports reported.

They’ve got a great opportunity in front of them at home versus Miami to get that signature win that I think they need to move up in the rankings, Yurachek said.

Alabama sits eight spots ahead of Tennessee

Two-loss Alabama debuted at No. 5, eight spots ahead of Tennessee (6-2) at No. 13 despite the Volunteers’ 26-10 victory over the Crimson Tide on Oct. 17. Yurachek said the committee placed the teams in different pods.

They do have the win against Alabama, but you have to go a little bit deeper to see Tennessee with another quality win on their schedule, he said, while noting that Alabama and Kentucky were in the same pod, they were compared because of their head-to-head matchup. Alabama got the nod ahead of Kentucky because of that.

The gap drew sharp criticism. The New York Times’ Athletic called the Alabama-Tennessee split a situation that never should have happened and won’t easily be explained the other way if it’s rectified, noting Tennessee’s win came later in the season and by a wider margin than Miami’s Week 1 win over Notre Dame last year.

Ohio State drops to No. 12 after loss at USC

Ohio State (6-2) fell to No. 12 after losing 30-18 at USC last week in its first game without injured quarterback Julian Sayin, who is out indefinitely with a throwing-arm injury. If the season ended today, No. 25 Boise State would replace the Buckeyes as the 12th seed, ESPN reported.

They do have a very impressive win, on the road, at Indiana that came down to the wire. … But they didn’t look like the same Ohio State team this past weekend against Southern Cal, Yurachek said.

Rankings resume Nov. 10; bracket set Dec. 6

The committee will release new rankings every Tuesday, with the next set due Nov. 10 at approximately 9 p.m. ET on ESPN, and the final rankings on Selection Sunday, Dec. 6. The four first-round playoff games are scheduled for Dec. 18-19 on the campuses of seeds 5-8, and the national championship is set for Jan. 25, 2027, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, according to AP.

Earlier coverage: College Football Power Index Week 8: Ohio State Returns to No. 1

More on this story: Experts Project 12-Team College Football Playoff Field for 2026 Season · College Football Power Index Week 8: Ohio State Returns to No. 1

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