When the Top 25 football rankings come out, including the first CFP poll

What you need to know as the AP top 25 voters and Coaches -- and for the first time the College Football Playoff selection committee -- are set to release their updated college football rankings heading into Week 10.

Your look at the schedule for when the Top 25 college football rankings are due to be released heading into Week 11. | Tim Heitman - Imagn Images

We shouldn’t see any changes among the top-six of the college football rankings coming out of Saturday’s action, but there will be some notable movement in the top-ten after three of those teams lost their games, ensuring some adjustments heading into Week 11.

But it won’t just be the AP top 25 and Coaches Poll that dominate the rankings as we move into November football.

This week, those two polls will be joined by the official College Football Playoff rankings, as the selection committee is due to meet to assemble their first impressions coming out of the weekend, too.

When will we know what happens? Here’s what you need to know for when the various college football rankings will be released today as we prepare for the Week 11 slate.

When the Top 25 college football rankings are released

First up, the Coaches Poll will be announced at or around 1 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, Nov. 2 after the eligible coaches cast their ballots for the top 25 teams.

From there, the Associated Press will announce its official top 25 rankings at or around 2 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, Nov. 2 after official voters submit their ballots to the AP to be counted.

And now, for the first time in 2025: the official College Football Playoff rankings, the first of which will make its debut a couple days later, at 8 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

Keep in mind, however: much like the football rankings themselves, their scheduled release time isn’t an exact science and may not be exactly right.

These are estimated times and occasionally the ranking services can be early or late, by as much as 15 to 30 minutes every week.

Sometimes, ballots arrive late or there are technical issues in calculating them, but both polls are usually released around the times listed.

Whenever the rankings are released, you can see them in their entirety on College Football HQ On Sports Illustrated.

What to expect in the new rankings

AP top 25 teams moving up, down in the Week 11 rankings

Predicting the AP top 25 college football rankings for Week 11

What to expect in the Coaches Poll top 25 rankings this week

How the AP top 25 rankings are created

Voters designated by the Associated Press who take part in the poll first create a list of what they consider the 25 best teams in the country. 

From there, they assign each team a number of points, awarding the best team the most number of points, which is 25. 

They give the second-lowest number to the second-best team, the third-lowest to the third-best team, etc.

The AP then combines the numerical value of each voter’s poll and ranks the teams by number of points in descending order to create the final rankings.

College Football Playoff rankings schedule for 2025

Until now, the weekly college football rankings were confined to those released by the AP top 25 voters and the coaches, but in the days to come, the more consequential College Football Playoff rankings are slated to be revealed by the selection committee.

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.

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.