The first set of 2025-26 CFP rankings were released Tuesday, and it seemed like people were actually ... pretty calm about it. Perhaps this was because they were similar to the most recent AP Top 25 poll. Or maybe everyone's just a little turned around after a season of high-profile firings. Either way, there is still plenty of time for people to get upset about their team's chances of earning a playoff berth.
Just 12 teams will make it into the CFP. As things stand, the current ranking would invite four SEC teams, three Big Ten teams, two Big 12 teams, one ACC team, one team representing the American Conference and one independent school. The whole ranking process is as interesting as it is maddening; a new take on an old tradition that infuriates fans just as much as it excites them, and it's only getting started.
Here's what you need to know to prepare for the rankings week after week:
CFP Top 25 release schedule
The CFP committee issued its first rankings in a show that aired Tuesday, Nov. 4. These will continue every Tuesday until Dec. 7, when the final 12-team playoff field is set.
What's new to the CFP this year?
Last year, the CFP field expanded from four teams to 12 teams. The five highest-ranked conference champs received an automatic bid; the top four of that group were named seeds No. 1-4 and given a first-round bye.
This year, although the top four teams will still get byes, the No. 1-4 seeds will instead go to the four highest-ranked teams in the CFP committee's final top 25, regardless of whether those teams won a conference championship. The five highest-ranked conference champs will still make the field, but they might be seeded differently, and might not get byes.
The committee also changed the CFP's strength of schedule metric to "apply greater weight to games against strong opponents," and introduced a "record strength" metric, which is intended to "go beyond a team’s schedule strength to assess how a team performed against that schedule," it wrote in an Aug. 20 release.
Current CFP rankings
Below are the CFP rankings as of the most recent ranking on Nov. 4, 2025:
Current CFP field, based on most recent rankings
If the playoff field were set now, it would look as follows:
Although Virginia is not ranked in the CFP's top 12, it earned a spot in the mock field as the projected automatic qualifier for the ACC and fourth-highest-ranked conference champ. The same goes for Memphis, the projected fifth-highest-ranked conference champion, from the American Conference.
THE FIRST 12-TEAM CFP BRACKET PROJECTION OF THE SEASON‼️
— ESPN (@espn) November 5, 2025
The committee selected Memphis as the best team from the remaining conferences. pic.twitter.com/EU6NCc33Ds
Who won the CFP last season?
Ohio State won the national championship last season, defeating Notre Dame 34–23. It was the Buckeye's first title since 2014.
More College Football on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as College Football Playoff Rankings Release Schedule for 2025.
