College Football Playoff rankings: Miami leads the first rankings of 2026 as both Notre Dame and Ohio State are outside the top 10

Miami is ranked atop the season’s first set of College Football Rankings. The undefeated Hurricanes are No. 1 in the AP Top 25 and were the unsurprising top team in Tuesday night’s inaugural rankings of 2026. But you didn’t have to go very far down the rankings to find some stark differences between the AP poll and the CFP selection committee’s rankings.Notre Dame, which is at No. 4 in the AP poll, was ranked No. 11 on Tuesday night. The one-loss Irish missed out on the College Football Playoff a season ago after the committee moved them behind Miami in the final set of rankings even though neither team played on conference championship weekend. Miami, of course, beat Notre Dame in Week 1. And the two teams play again on Saturday night in a game that somehow looks even more pivotal for the playoff than it did 24 hours ago.Nov. 3 College Football Playoff rankings1. Miami Hurricanes (8-0)2. Georgia Bulldogs (7-1)3. Utah Utes (8-0)4. Indiana Hoosiers (8-1)5. Alabama Crimson Tide (6-2)6. Kentucky Wildcats (7-1)7. Texas Longhorns (6-2)8. UCLA Bruins (8-0)9. BYU Cougars (7-1)10. Ole Miss Rebels (6-2)11. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-1)12. Ohio State Buckeyes (6-2)13. Tennessee Volunteers (6-2)14. LSU Tigers (6-2)15. Texas Tech Red Raiders (7-1)16. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (7-1)17. Houston Cougars (6-2)18. Missouri Tigers (6-2)19. Iowa Hawkeyes (6-2)20. USC Trojans (7-2)21. South Carolina Gamecocks (5-3)22. Arizona Wildcats (6-2)23. Oregon Ducks (5-3)24. Florida Gators (5-3)25. Boise State Broncos (7-1)