Miami is ranked atop the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season.
The undefeated Hurricanes are No. 1 in the AP Top 25 and were unsurprisingly the top team in Tuesday night’s inaugural rankings of 2026. But you didn’t have to go very far down the rankings to find stark differences between the AP poll and the CFP selection committee’s rankings.
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Notre Dame, which ranks No. 4 in the AP poll, was ranked 11th as of Tuesday night. The Irish, with one loss, missed the College Football Playoff a season ago after the committee moved them behind Miami in the final rankings, even though neither team played on conference championship weekend.
Miami, of course, beat Notre Dame in Week 1 last season. And the two teams play again Saturday night in a game that seems even more crucial to the playoffs than it did 24 hours ago.
If Notre Dame loses to Miami again, will it miss the College Football Playoff again?
The Irish still have games against Boston College, SMU and Syracuse. Not all of these teams are ranked. The Irish have a very clear path to 10-2 if they lose to the Hurricanes. And given the way the committee seems to value the strength of the schedule, Notre Dame could find itself on the outside looking in for a second straight season.
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CFP committee chairman Hunter Yurachek — Arkansas’ athletic director — cited Notre Dame’s schedule as the main reason the Irish were ranked 11th.
“When you look at Notre Dame’s schedule and the wins they have against the teams ahead of them, they don’t have that iconic win right now,” Yurachek said on ESPN. “They lost in their only top-25 game at BYU, their second-best win is at a neutral site. They have a great opportunity ahead of them at home against Miami to get that signature win that I think they need to move up the rankings.”
The Irish are ranked behind three teams with two defeats. Georgia, Utah and Indiana rounded out the top four with Alabama, with two losses, a surprising No. 5. The Crimson Tide is eight spots ahead of Tennessee. The Volunteers are an identical 6-2 record and beat the Crimson Tide by 16 points.
Alabama is also ahead of Kentucky. The Tide handed the Wildcats their only loss of the season in Week 2. Texas is ranked 7th ahead of undefeated UCLA. BYU and Ole Miss are the last two teams in the top 10.
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How important is the strength of the schedule?
Ohio State’s losses are to No. 7 Texas and No. 20 USC. The Buckeyes, who handed Indiana its only loss of the season, are 12th behind the Fighting Irish because they will likely be without quarterback Julian Sayin for the rest of the season. This injury is clearly one of the driving factors as to why Ohio State is outside of the top 10.
A total of 10 teams with one loss or less appear in the first set of rankings. Four of those teams are not in the top 10. Texas Tech is at No. 15, Wake Forest is at No. 16 and Boise State is at No. 25.
Of the six two-loss teams in the top 15, six are in the SEC. It’s clear that the committee views the SEC as the greatest conference in the country and that view comes after the SEC spent the spring and summer pushing for schedule strength to be a greater factor in the committee’s consideration.
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Right now, it seems very plausible that an SEC team with three losses could make the playoffs like Alabama did a season ago. This season, Yurachek credited Alabama’s win over Kentucky and wins over Mississippi State (when quarterback Kamario Taylor was available) and South Carolina for why the Crimson Tide was in the top five.
Week 10 features a ton of ranked games
If you’re confused, bored, frustrated, or any combination of the above with the first round of rankings, we have some good news for you: Week 10 is going to bring us a lot of clarity.
Not only does No. 1 Miami take on No. 11 Notre Dame, but No. 2 Georgia visits No. 10 Ole Miss, No. 9 BYU visits No. 3 Utah, No. 5 Alabama heads to No. 14 LSU, No. 13 Tennessee hosts No. 6 Kentucky and No. 7 Texas visits No. 18 Missouri. There’s a good chance that the three teams in the top 10 with two losses will suffer three losses by the end of Saturday.
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Or, if you’re a fan of chaos, we could have an even bigger quagmire of two-loss teams. It’s possible too. But we’re betting things will at least somewhat settle down before the second round of rankings.
What the 12-team playoffs would look like if the season ended today. (Yahoo Sports/Dillon Minshall)
(Yahoo Sports/Dillon Minshall)
1. 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 the Irish (7-1)
12. Ohio State Buckeyes (6-2)
13. Tennessee Volunteers (6-2)
14. LSU Tigers (6-2)
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15. Texas Tech Red Raiders (7-1)
16. Demon Deacons of Wake Forest (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 Alligators (5-3)
25. Boise State Broncos (7-1)
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