How to watch the College Football Playoff rankings show today

When will the selectors reveal their choices? Here’s the full schedule for when the College Football Playoff rankings will go live today, and for the rest of the 2025 season.

Members of the College Football Playoff selection committee are faced with some consequential decisions as they reveal the third edition of their official top 25 rankings.

A pair of previously top-ten ranked playoff hopefuls lost their games over the weekend, both in the SEC, forcing selectors into a dilemma on how to sort the best teams this week.

Alabama dropped a huge game at home against Oklahoma, with the former seeing its SEC championship hopes take a hit, and the latter playing itself back into the postseason bubble on the back of a masterclass in defensive football.

Texas was just inside the bubble last week with those two losses, but a third on the road against Georgia, and one that wasn’t particularly close, could prove to be the coup de grace on the Longhorns’ playoff ambitions, even if they’re not completely out just yet.

When the College Football Playoff rankings come out

The selection committee will reveal its second edition of the College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time and you can see them live on the ESPN network.

College Football Playoff rankings schedule for 2025

All times Eastern

CFP rankings release No. 1
Tues., Nov. 4 at 8 p.m.

CFP rankings release No. 2
Tues., Nov. 11 at 7 p.m.

And: What the second CFP rankings looked like

CFP rankings release No. 3
Tues., Nov. 18 at 8:30 p.m.

CFP rankings release No. 4
Tues., Nov. 25 at 7 p.m.

CFP rankings release No. 5
Tues., Dec. 2 at 7 p.m.

Selection Sunday
Sun., Dec. 7 at 12 p.m.

College football playoff rankings criteria

College Football Playoff selectors create top 25 rankings based on their evaluation of teams’ performance on the field.

The committee employs several metrics to select the best teams.

Strength of schedule
Head-to-head game results
Results vs. teams in top 25 rankings
Results vs. common opponents
Conference championships

How the rankings are made

According to the College Football Playoff guidelines, the selection committee ranks teams based on the members’ evaluation of teams’ play on the field using a number of metrics to decide among teams that are comparable.

The committee’s 13 members then create their own list of 30 teams they believe are the best in college football. Those groups of teams, in no special order, are further ranked when three or more members agree on their selections.

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