Miami tops 1st CFP rankings as date with No. 11 Notre Dame looms

Miami wasn't included in the College Football Playoff selection committee's top 10 until the final rankings last season, but the unbeaten Hurricanes are No. 1 in the initial rankings released Tuesday night. Miami was followed by Georgia, Utah, Indiana and Alabama in the top five. Kentucky, Texas, UCLA, BYU, Ole Miss, Notre Dame and Ohio State round out the 12 teams in the rankings. Since five conference champions are guaranteed to make the 12-team bracket, No. 25 Boise State, a Group of 6 team, would replace Ohio State as the 12th seed. The Hurricanes, Bulldogs, Utes and Hoosiers would receive first-round byes as the top four teams if the initial rankings were used for the 12-team bracket. The first-round games would be this: Boise State at Alabama, BYU at UCLA, Notre Dame at Kentucky and Ole Miss at Texas. Miami's late rise in the rankings last season assured it of a spot in the 12-team bracket and helped knock Notre Dame out of the CFP. Despite Miami's 27-24 victory over Notre Dame in the 2025 opener, the Hurricanes weren't put ahead of the Fighting Irish until the final rankings. THE CFP TOP 25 HAVE BEEN REVEALED 👀 Agree with the list? 🤔 https://t.co/c4D5MF5GCc — SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 4, 2026 After getting a late bump in the rankings last season, Miami won three straight CFP games before falling to Indiana 27-21 in the CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T. The Fighting Irish can get revenge when they host the Hurricanes on Saturday. Notre Dame might have to win to avoid missing the CFP for the second straight season; it doesn't have a victory against a team that is currently ranked and none of its final three opponents after Miami are in the top 25. The Fighting Irish are guaranteed a spot in the CFP if they finish in the top 12 in the final rankings. Tennessee was ranked 13th, followed by LSU, Texas Tech, Wake Forest, Houston, Missouri, Iowa and USC. South Carolina, Arizona, Oregon, Florida and Boise State rounded out the top 25. The SEC had five teams in the top 12, followed by the Big Ten with three and the Big 12 with two. The ACC had two teams in the top 25. And Boise State was the lone team from a Group of 6 conference in the top 25. Defending national champion Indiana was a surprising choice for the top four. The Hoosiers lost 19-15 to Ohio State on Oct. 17 and their past three victories all came by seven points or less, including overtime victories against Michigan and Minnesota the past two weeks. The Hoosiers didn't play a Power Four nonconference opponent (North Texas, FCS program Howard and Western Kentucky and they haven't yet defeated a team that's ranked by the committee. Alabama's inclusion in the top five was also surprising after it lost consecutive games to Georgia and Tennessee in October. But the Crimson Tide have wins over top-25 foes Kentucky and South Carolina, and have played the seventh most difficult schedule in the FBS, according to ESPN Analytics. There's little doubt the selection committee dinged Ohio State after it lost 30-18 at USC last week in its first game without injured quarterback Julian Sayin, who is out indefinitely after injuring his throwing arm. Freshman quarterback Luke Fahey threw for 260 yards and one touchdown in his first start, but the OSU defense surrendered more points than it had in its previous 31 games. Even the Hurricanes have shown deficiencies in the past few weeks. Miami needed two overtimes to knock off rival Florida State 43-35 in overtime on Oct. 17. In last week's 38-35 victory at North Carolina, the Hurricanes had to recover an onside kick in the final two minutes-after the Tar Heels recovered two that were wiped out by penalties-to hold on. Miami's defense surrendered 850 yards of offense in those two games and is ranked 122nd in the FBS in pass defense, allowing 252 yards per game. Still, if the Hurricanes can defeat Notre Dame for a third straight time on Saturday, it will have a manageable path to the ACC championship game with home contests remaining against Duke, Virginia Tech and Boston College. The CFP selection committee's final rankings will be announced Dec. 6. The four first-round games will be played at the home campus of the higher-seeded teams on Dec. 18 and 19. The four quarterfinal games will be staged at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, Rose Bowl Game Presented by Prudential and the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Dec. 30 and Jan. 1. The two semifinal games will take place at the Capital One Orange Bowl and Allstate Sugar Bowl on Jan. 14 and 15. The CFP National Championship is scheduled for Jan. 25 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.