College Football Playoff Rankings: Notre Dame Earns Major Victory

That you noise you heard Tuesday night was a sigh of relief by Notre Dame fans upon finding out the initial College Football Playoff rankings for 2025.

The rankings were released in their made-for-TV style and Notre Dame checked in 10th, a tremendous number considering the Irish are 6-2. It doesn't guarantee Notre Dame a playoff spot if it is to win its final four games, but it certainly puts Marcus Freeman's squad in tremendous shape.

College Football Playoff Rankings - November 4, 2025:

The full top 25 for the first release of the College Football Playoff rankings goes as follows.

1. Ohio State (8-0)
2. Indiana (9-0)
3. Texas A&M (8-1)
4. Alabama (7-1)
5. Georgia (7-1)

6. Ole Miss (8-1)
7. BYU (8-0)
8. Texas Tech (7-1)
9. Oregon (7-1)
10. Notre Dame (6-2)

11. Texas (7-2)
12. Oklahoma (7-2)
13. Utah (7-2)
14. Virginia (8-1)
15. Louisville (7-1)

16. Vanderbilt (7-2)
17. Georgia Tech (8-1)
18. Miami (FL) (6-2)
19. USC (6-2)
20. Iowa (6-2)

21. Michigan (7-2)
22. Missouri (6-2)
23. Washington (6-2)
24. Pittsburgh (7-2)
25. Tennessee (6-3)

Things Couldn't Have Gone Better for Notre Dame

CJ Carr was interviewed on Wednesday and asked about Notre Dame's placement in the rankings, and he downplayed them, saying he's just focused on the next opponent, Navy.

The truth of the matter is that everyone involved with Notre Dame football has to be thrilled that the Irish are rated 10th in the initial rankings.

Notre Dame checks in as the highest-rated two-loss team, a very important note in all of this. Obviously, Notre Dame has to win out in order to maintain its standing, but even if a team currently behind the Irish impresses enough to overtake Notre Dame, there is wiggle room to allow the Irish to remain in the tournament.

What will be interesting is if Notre Dame can move up. Texas Tech and BYU meet this week in Provo, Utah. Will Notre Dame pass whichever team loses that game? And then could Notre Dame pass one more by regular season's end without getting passed itself?

If the answer to those questions are all yes, then you're looking at Notre Dame potentially hosting a College Football Playoff game for the second season in a row.

This Week's Bracket - A Closer Look

THE FIRST 12-TEAM CFP BRACKET PROJECTION OF THE SEASON‼️

The committee selected Memphis as the best team from the remaining conferences. pic.twitter.com/EU6NCc33Ds
— ESPN (@espn) November 5, 2025

This is about as favorable of bracket as Notre Dame could hope for. It'd be a sizeable favorite at BYU, and would get Indiana on a neutral field.

I don't look at last year's game against Indiana as mattering whatsoever, and the Hoosiers are a wagon this year. A lot of Notre Dame fans see Indiana and don't have any fear because of the brand name, but that'd be a very difficult game.

That said, it's not Ohio State, who to me, looks to be a bit ahead of anyone else in college football in 2025. A rematch with the Buckeyes wouldn't come until the National Championship game, and a pair of teams would have the chance to upset the Buckeyes before that.