College Football Playoff rankings: Predictions for first CFP poll embrace the chaos

This Tuesday will not feature the unveiling of the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season, but the initial poll will be released on Nov. 4. With the College Football Playoff fast approaching, let's take a look at the potential rankings projections heading into Week 10.

There are a handful of undefeated teams remaining, but the majority of the rankings will be full of programs fighting to make the postseason. Despite these teams remaining without a blemish on their resumes, there does not appear to be a dominant squad in 2025.

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Who you got? 🤔https://t.co/LFVGUQpNTR pic.twitter.com/dBZqcx6Pbk
— On3 (@On3sports) October 28, 2025

This backdrop of parity is setting up for a highly competitive postseason. Here's a look at our predictions for where the College Football Playoff rankings currently sit through the first nine weeks.

No. 1 Ohio State

No surprise at the top, but an argument can be made that Indiana is also deserving of the No. 1 spot. Something tells us the Ohio State helmet gets the edge over the rising Indiana program.

The Buckeyes could cruise to the Big Ten Championship with an upcoming schedule where Ohio State is expected to be heavy favorites. Penn State was once thought to be a national championship contender, but the post-James Franklin Nittany Lions will be fortunate to keep Saturday's clash close.

Ohio State's grand finale against Michigan once again looms to close the season.

No. 2 Indiana

The bottom of the Big Ten continues to look weak, creating a favorable path for the Hoosiers to potentially make the conference title game. Like Ohio State, Indiana is expected to be favored the rest of the way, creating a potential collision course in the Big Ten Championship.

No. 3 Texas A&M

Heading into the season, few had Texas A&M as the best team in the SEC, but the Aggies have been the class of the conference through the first two months. Texas A&M had such a dominant second half against LSU that it got Brian Kelly fired.

Texas A&M will enter November with an 8-0 record and the best resume in the country according to ESPN Analytics.

The average Playoff contender would only have a 5% chance to go 8-0 against the Aggies' schedule to date 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Xymm1CYmP1
— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) October 26, 2025

No. 4 Alabama

Alabama's season-opening loss against Florida State continues to look like an anomaly. The Crimson Tide have a bye before facing a Kelly-less LSU in Week 11. Bama then squares off against Oklahoma as the Crimson Tide is slated to have a challenging two-week stretch.

No. 5 Georgia

The Dawgs may not be winning in style, but Georgia has shown resiliency to make up for the potential lack of traditional firepower on defense. Georgia would be wise not to take their eyes off Florida as the Gators play their first game without Billy Napier.

Fans are about to learn a lot more about Georgia with upcoming games against Florida, Texas and Georgia Tech before the season ends. Gunner Stockton is playing like one of the best quarterbacks in college football.

No. 6 Ole Miss

Another week means another SEC team linked to Lane Kiffin. Ole Miss is doing its best to prove that Kiffin should remain in Oxford.

It will be interesting to see how Ole Miss continues to perform amid the constant LSU and Florida rumors surrounding the team's coach. The Rebels have an intriguing primetime matchup against South Carolina on Saturday.

No. 7 Oregon

Despite losing to Indiana, fans could witness Oregon rise in the rankings by season's end. Oregon closes the season against Iowa, Minnesota, USC and Washington.

All of these are winnable games for the Ducks as Oregon should be favored in the four remaining matchups. Yet, none of these are guaranteed wins if Oregon takes its foot off the gas.

No. 8 Georgia Tech

It is difficult to tell just how good Georgia Tech is but being undefeated is still impressive, even if the Jackets' schedule is not as strong as some of the above programs. We may not learn much more about Georgia Tech before the team closes the regular season against in-state rival Georgia on Nov. 28 in downtown Atlanta.

No. 9 Vanderbilt

With "College GameDay" in Nashville, it was not the prettiest win over Missouri, but it still counts for Vanderbilt. Things don't get any easier for Vandy as the Commodores travel to Austin to face Texas on Saturday.

The Diego Pavia era 📈📈📈 pic.twitter.com/E59Vff6YlS
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) October 23, 2025

No. 10 BYU

The Big 12 may not be the best conference, but it continues to be one of the more competitive leagues in college football. All BYU continues to do is win, notching an impressive comeback against Iowa State. The Big 12 race will be majorly impacted next week as Texas Tech hosts BYU on Nov. 8.

No. 11 Miami

A Miami win over SMU this weekend can only help boost the Canes' playoff chances. Miami is still in the ACC hunt despite the recent loss to Louisville.

No. 12 Memphis

There might be teams technically ranked ahead of Memphis, but at least one non-power conference program is guaranteed to have a spot in the College Football Playoff. The Memphis-South Florida thriller could end up being a de facto playoff game, but there are plenty of Group of 6 teams in the mix for this spot.

Memphis comes back to take down No. 18 South Florida 😤 pic.twitter.com/OiwtD7DOqF
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) October 25, 2025