No. 1 Miami led the first College Football Playoff Rankings of 2026 season as one of only three undefeated teams remaining in the sport. The Hurricanes edge out No. 2 Georgia and fellow undefeated No. 3 Utah to rank at the top. Those three teams join No. 4 Indiana from the Big Ten as the four first-round byes in the College Football Playoff.
As usual, the SEC received a stunning bump of contenders compared to the AP Top 25. Alabama ranked four spots ahead of their AP ranking, coming in at No. 5 in the first CFP Rankings. Kentucky sits at No. 6 and Texas No. 7, also multiple spots ahead of their AP Poll ranking.
However, the most interesting part of the bracket comes at the end. Notre Dame projects as the last time into the College Football Playoff field as the 11-seed. Powerhouse Ohio State is the first team out of the bracket at No. 12, nudged out for top Group of Six championship No. 25 Boise State.
Here is a look at how the College Football playoff bracket looks after the first CFP Rankings release of the 2026 season. The schools in this scenario that would host a first-round game are No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Kentucky, No. 7 Texas and No. 8 UCLA. Last season, Notre Dame was the first team out of the College Football Playoff after finishing 10-2 with losses against two CFP squads.
This year, the Fighting Irish are in an even more precarious situation coming out of the first rankings, sitting as the last team in the field. Notre Dame already has a loss to BYU on its schedule, and now plays No. 1 Miami on Saturday. If the Fighting Irish don't beat the top team in the nation, they're nearly a lock to miss the postseason.
Notre Dame's only other potential positive data points -- SMU and Wisconsin -- both lost last weekend. They're already in the danger zone. The CFP committee typically gives the SEC a little bump compared to the AP rankings, but this year was a whole different level.
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