Forde’s College Football Playoff Projection After Week 5: New No. 1 Team Enters

Week 5 delivered enough results to finally get a sense of top teams’ true potential. Here’s how Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde sees the CFP field.

After a wild Week 5, the College Football Playoff field gets a huge shake-up. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

In this story:

Oregon Ducks Ohio State Buckeyes Miami (FL) Hurricanes Oklahoma Sooners Ole Miss Rebels Indiana Hoosiers Penn State Nittany Lions Texas A&M Aggies Vanderbilt Commodores Texas Tech Red Raiders Alabama Crimson Tide Memphis Tigers

Good news: Everyone has finally played someone, in terms of at least one legitimate opponent. So my bracket can reflect that, and it starts with a new No. 1 in Oregon after the Ducks stood tall in Happy Valley to defeat Penn State.

Seeding

Oregon
Ohio State
Miami
Oklahoma
Ole Miss
Indiana
Penn State
Texas A&M
Vanderbilt
Texas Tech
Alabama
Memphis

First Round

No. 12 Memphis at No. 5 Ole Miss
No. 11 Alabama at No. 6 Indiana
No. 10 Texas Tech at No. 7 Penn State
No. 9 Vanderbilt at No. 8 Texas A&M

Quarterfinals

Sugar Bowl: No. 4 Oklahoma vs. winner of No. 12 Memphis–No. 5 Ole Miss winner
Orange Bowl: No. 3 Miami vs. winner of No. 11 Alabama–No. 6 Indiana
Cotton Bowl: No. 2 Ohio State vs. winner of No. 10 Texas Tech–No. 7 Penn State
Rose Bowl: No. 1 Oregon vs. winner of No. 9 Vanderbilt–No. 8 Texas A&M

Teams also considered

Georgia Tech
Georgia
Iowa State
Missouri
Texas
Notre Dame
BYU
Tulane
Maryland
Michigan
LSU

More College Football on Sports Illustrated

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Published Sep 28, 2025 | Modified Sep 28, 2025

Pat Forde

Pat Forde is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who covers college football and college basketball as well as the Olympics and horse racing. He cohosts the College Football Enquirer podcast and is a football analyst on the Big Ten Network. He previously worked for Yahoo Sports, ESPN and The (Louisville) Courier-Journal. Forde has won 28 Associated Press Sports Editors writing contest awards, has been published three times in the Best American Sports Writing book series, and was nominated for the 1990 Pulitzer Prize. A past president of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and member of the Football Writers Association of America, he lives in Louisville with his wife. They have three children, all of whom were collegiate swimmers.

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