College Football Playoff Rankings top 25: Miami edges Notre Dame on Selection Sunday

The final College Football Playoff Rankings included significant adjustments to the top 12 teams, which shook up the postseason field

By Brad Crawford

Dec 7, 2025 at 1:54 pm ET • 1 min read

Michael Meredith, CBS Sports

The 2025 college football season came to a controversial conclusion with the release of the final College Football Playoff Rankings on Selection Sunday, when the CFP Selection Committee revealed the 12-team field that will compete for the 2026 national championship. Indiana overtaking Ohio State for the No. 1 spot may have been surprising -- the Hoosiers are atop the college football world for the first time in program history -- but decisions further down the rankings had coaches, players, fans and analysts questioning the process.

Joining Indiana and No. 2 Ohio State in the top four are Georgia (No. 3) and Texas Tech (No. 4), with all four teams earning first-round byes. Despite its loss in the Big Ten Championship Game, Ohio State stayed ahead of the Bulldogs, while the Red Raiders secured their first playoff berth after a dominant Big 12 title win.

Ohio State now has a chance to defend its national championship, marking the Buckeyes' seventh CFP appearance in 12 years of the postseason era (2014, 2016, 2019-20, 2022, 2024).

The real drama unfolded with the final at-large selections. Miami, which entered the week two spots behind Notre Dame in the penultimate rankings, vaulted the Fighting Irish despite both teams being idle. Alabama, which lost by 21 points to Georgia, stayed ahead of both -- becoming the first three-loss team to ever qualify for the CFP.

Chaos in the ACC played a major role in the final picture. Five-loss Duke's upset of Virginia in the conference title game made the ACC the first Power Four league to miss the 12-team field entirely. Instead, American champion Tulane and Sun Belt champion James Madison claimed the final two playoff berths, as the five highest-ranked conference title winners receive automatic bids.

Let's take a look at the final CFP Rankings of the 2025 season. Check out the complete 2025-26 College Football Playoff bracket, along with all the first-round matchups now set with a national champion set to be crowned in a matter of weeks.