College Football Playoff Rankings: Live Reaction to First CFP Top 25 of the Season

What does the field of 12 look like? SI’s Pat Forde and Bryan Fischer break down the committee’s rankings and bracket as they are revealed.

Bryan Fischer

Marcel Reed (10) and the Aggies are enjoying a dream season and look like a playoff lock at the moment. / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The 2025 college football season will get a major jolt of drama Tuesday night when the first College Football Playoff rankings of the year are unveiled on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET.

Will the SEC take over the upper half of the selection committee’s Top 25 much like it has the AP and coaches polls? How will the ACC and Big 12 stack up against their stronger Power 4 counterparts? What at-large debates will we already be raging about? Some—though definitely nowhere near all—of these questions will be answered Tuesday.

Watch below as Pat Forde and Bryan Fischer do their best to sort through the noise and politicking.

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Bryan Fischer

Bryan Fischer is a staff writer at Sports Illustrated covering college sports. He joined the SI staff in October 2024 after spending nearly two decades at outlets such as FOX Sports, NBC Sports and CBS Sports. A member of the Football Writers Association of America’s All-America Selection Committee and a Heisman Trophy voter, Fischer has received awards for investigative journalism from the Associated Press Sports Editors and FWAA. He has a bachelor’s in communication from USC.