College Football Playoff Selection Committee Unveils First Rankings of Season: Live Updates, Analysis

The first official CFP rankings are being unveiled at 7 p.m. ET.

At 8–0 and No. 1 in the AP and Coaches Polls, Miami is expected to be on top of the selection committee’s official College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The day has arrived. As millions of Americans around the country cast their votes at the ballot box, so too does the College Football Playoff selection committee, unveiling the season’s first CFP Top 25.

This season has been a true roller coaster, featuring upsets, hangover game losses and a constant shuffling of teams believed to be in the playoff mix. Four different teams have occupied the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25, for example, and 12 different programs have received first-place votes.

There are just three remaining undefeated teams in all of FBS, and just one from the “Power 2” conferences ... a stunning 8–0 UCLA club under first-year coach Bob Chesney. The Bruins are joined by Miami and Utah, two of the presumptive top four seeds in tonight’s rankings.

The results of the CFP’s first set of weekly rankings will be unveiled at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. While the rankings are a dry-run for the official release on Selection Sunday, Dec. 6 at noon ET, they will be quite informative as to the committee’s thinking—even if that can shift wildly from week to week, as we saw with last year’s Notre Dame/Miami fiasco.

Follow along below as Sports Illustrated’s college team shares the results of the first CFP poll of the season, along with live analysis and reactions to the Top 25.

Live updates, analysis, reaction to the season’s first College Football Playoff Top 25

How the 12-team playoff field is determined

Each year of the 12-team College Football Playoff (which expanded from four teams in 2024) has featured slight tweaks. This year’s field will feature:

• The conference champions from the Power 4 conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC) as automatic bids.
• The highest-ranked Group of 6 (American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12, Sun Belt) program, regardless of conference champion status.
• Seven at-large programs.
• Notre Dame receives an automatic bid if it finishes within the top 12 of the final rankings.

The top four teams in the field receive byes, regardless of conference champion status.

CFP selection committee members

• Hunter Yurachek, Arkansas athletic director (committee chair)
• Troy Dannen, Nebraska athletic director
• Mark Dantonio, former Michigan State, Cincinnati coach
• Doug Gillin, Appalachian State athletic director
• Mark Harlan, Utah athletic director
• Ivan Maisel, former sports writer at SI, ESPN, other outlets
• Gus Malzahn, former Auburn, UCF, Arkansas State coach
• Chris Massaro, Middle Tennessee State athletic director
• Randall McDaniel, former Arizona State All-American offensive lineman
• Mike Riley, former Oregon State, Nebraska coach
• Jeff Tedford, former Cal, Fresno State coach
• Wesley Walls, former Mississippi All-American tight end
• Carla Williams, Virginia athletic director

The members recuse themselves from discussion when they have any conflict with a school being discussed, and are barred from voting on those programs.

---

PODCAST: Listen to Sports Illustrated’s college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, hosted by Pat Forde, on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s college YouTube channel or on SI TV.