COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF COMMITTEE RANKS MIAMI FIRST, OMITS OHIO STATE

The College Football Playoff selection committee released its first 2026 season rankings, placing Miami at number one. Miami, projected as Atlantic Coast Conference champion, holds an 8-0 record. Georgia ranks second at 7-1, Utah sits third at 8-0 as projected Big 12 champion, and Indiana holds fourth at 8-1, leading the Big Ten. Alabama, Kentucky, Texas, UCLA, BYU, Ole Miss, Notre Dame and Boise State occupy the remaining places inside the top 12. Ohio State, with a 6-2 record, does not appear in the rankings.

Under the 12-team playoff format, the selection committee automatically awards places to the five highest-ranked conference champions. Boise State, ranked 25th overall nationally but the fifth-highest-ranked conference champion with a 7-1 record, takes one of those automatic places, which compresses the bracket. Based on the current standings, the opening round would pit Boise State against Alabama, Notre Dame against Kentucky, Ole Miss against Texas, and BYU against UCLA, hosted at the higher-seeded team's campus. The top four seeds, Miami, Georgia, Utah and Indiana, would not play in the opening round under this format. Hunter Yurachek, the athletic director at the University of Arkansas, chairs the selection committee.

Ohio State's absence from the top 12 became the most discussed aspect of the release, drawing considerable reaction from Buckeyes supporters online. The 6-2 Buckeyes missed out after Boise State's automatic berth as a conference champion pushed them out of the final seed. The committee is due to issue further rankings over the coming weeks, with the final standings determining the playoff field at the end of the season. Miami, Georgia, Utah, Indiana and Alabama occupy the top five positions heading into the remainder of the season.