IRVING, Texas — Unbeaten Miami sits atop the first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2026 season, released Tuesday night by the CFP Selection Committee and based on games played through Saturday, Oct. 31.
It is the first time the Hurricanes have been ranked No. 1 by the committee. Miami is the 11th program to hold the top spot and the first from the ACC to do so since Clemson in 2017.
The top five: 1. Miami (8-0), 2. Georgia (7-1), 3. Utah (8-0), 4. Indiana (8-1), 5. Alabama (6-2).
Nos. 6-15: Kentucky (7-1), Texas (6-2), UCLA (8-0), BYU (7-1), Ole Miss (6-2), Notre Dame (7-1), Ohio State (6-2), Tennessee (6-2), LSU (6-2) and Texas Tech (7-1).
Nos. 16-25: Wake Forest (7-1), Houston (6-2), Missouri (6-2), Iowa (6-2), Southern California (7-2), South Carolina (5-3), Arizona (6-2), Oregon (5-3), Florida (5-3) and Boise State (7-1).
Several programs reached new highs. Utah at No. 3 is the best ranking in school history, topping its old mark of No. 5. Kentucky at No. 6 beat its previous best of No. 9, and Houston at No. 17 edged its old high of No. 18.
Notre Dame, at 7-1, landed at No. 11, one spot ahead of Ohio State.
Tuesday brought the 73rd set of committee rankings since they debuted in October 2014, and Alabama and Ohio State are still the only two programs that have shown up in every one.
History offers Miami some encouragement: of the 12 CFP national champions, all but one began in the top four of the first rankings. The outlier was the 2014 Ohio State team, which opened 16th.
The committee says no single number decides a spot. Members watch game film, study data and hear from the conferences, and when two teams look alike they lean on schedule strength, how the teams fared against each other or against shared opponents, and things like a key injury or a missing coach.
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