College Football Playoff Rankings top 25: Oregon leaps Ole Miss, Michigan tops Texas

The fourth College Football Playoff rankings are out with the 12-team field remaining in place despite some adjustments to the top 25

By Brad Crawford

Nov 25, 2025 at 8:29 pm ET • 6 min read

Michael Meredith, CBS Sports

The fourth edition of the College Football Playoff Rankings was released Tuesday night with undefeated Ohio State maintaining its grip on the No. 1 spot ahead of Indiana for the third straight week. While the top of the playoff field held firm, there is no telling what upsets may be in store for the top teams in the nation with Rivalry Week and conference championships ahead over the next 11 days.

Past the Buckeyes and Hoosiers, Texas A&M and Georgia remained in the top four, which would guarantee those programs first-round byes.

The most notable decisions from the penultimate week of the regular season were Oklahoma beating Missouri and Oregon rolling past USC in the lone matchups between top 25 opponents. While the Sooners held their No. 9 position, the Ducks jumped Ole Miss to become the new No. 6 team in the CFP Rankings.

The reigning national champion Buckeyes are seeking their seventh playoff appearance in 12 years of the postseason bracket's existence (2014, 2016, 2019-20, 2022, 2024). Ohio State's final game against a ranked opponent comes in its regular-season finale against Michigan.

Eight of the 11 teams ranked No. 1 in a season's initial CFP Rankings ultimately reached the playoff, an effort now made easier with the expanded 12-team field, which is being contested for a second season.

Currently projected to meet OSU in the Big Ten Championship Game is Indiana. The Buckeyes demolished Rutgers, 42-9, with Michigan -- jumping Texas while moving up three spots -- awaiting. The Hoosiers enjoyed a late off week with Big Ten basement dweller Purdue ahead in Week 14.

Miami (FL), despite being ranked No. 12, takes the 11th projected bid from the CFP Selection Committee as the highest-rated team from the ACC. However, with the Hurricanes unlikely to play in the ACC Championship Game -- projected as SMU vs. Virginia -- they will likely need to earn a spot as an at-large team.

Tulane claims the last of the 12 committee-projected playoff spots as the highest-ranked Group of Five team in Tuesday's release at No. 24. With the 12-team playoff model granting automatic bids to the five highest-ranked conference champions, the Green Wave are presently expected to win the American and grab the final spot in the field. Should a Group of Five team not make the final rankings, the CFP Selection Committee would choose which champion deserved the last bid.

College Football Playoff Rankings, Nov. 25

* First-round bye | ~ First-round host | ^ Highest-ranked Group of Five team

Ohio State (11-0) *
Indiana (11-0) *
Texas A&M (11-0) *
Georgia (10-1) *
Texas Tech (10-1) ~
Oregon (10-1) ~
Ole Miss (10-1) ~
Oklahoma (9-2) ~
Notre Dame (9-2)
Alabama (9-2)
BYU (10-1)
Miami (FL) (9-2) | No. 11 seed
Utah (9-2)
Vanderbilt (9-2)
Michigan (9-2)
Texas (8-3)
USC (8-3)
Virginia (9-2)
Tennessee (8-3)
Arizona State (8-3)
SMU (8-3)
Pittsburgh (8-3)
Georgia Tech (9-2)
Tulane (9-2) ^ | No. 12 seed
Arizona (8-3)

Committee shows hand a bit

The top 12 could've remained unchanged from the previous week with no losses by a team in that range over the weekend; however, the committee made a pair of significant changes as Oregon pushed ahead of Ole Miss at No. 6 and Miami moved to No. 12 ahead of Utah. Now, the Rebels are in danger of losing the opportunity at a first-round home game if they fall two more spots by the final vote. The Lane Kiffin questions will come into play in next week's rankings, too. If Oregon beats Washington to close at 11-1, the Ducks will be ahead of Ole Miss in the final bracket regardless of the coaching situation; that would give Oregon two wins over quality opponents in November alone, while the Rebels would have played South Carolina, The Citadel, Florida and Mississippi State -- teams that are a combined 16-29 overall.

Thanksgiving table set for chaos

Since the playoff era began in 2014, never has rivalry weekend included this many matchups with significant implications both in conference championship races and the postseason discussion. In fact, there's still a dozen teams outside of the committee's current top 10 vying for a spot in the bracket, according to our estimation within the at-large conversation or a potential auto-bid qualification -- BYU, Utah, Miami, Vanderbilt, Texas, Michigan, Virginia, Tulane, North Texas, Navy, SMU and Pitt. Friday and Saturday is a viewer's paradise thanks to a litany of scenarios for those still in the discussion, which is why the decision was made a couple years ago to invite more teams to the dance.

The most chaotic scenario possible would be Michigan taking out Ohio State, Texas upending Texas A&M, unranked Duke reaching the ACC title game thanks to a chain reaction of needed results and unexpected losses as heavy favorites by BYU, Utah and Notre Dame. That would be absolute mayhem for the committee to try and solve entering conference championship weekend.

Pressure's on Alabama

If the Crimson Tide lose at Auburn this weekend, there's no playoff trip for the second straight season at Alabama. A win locks in an appearance in the SEC Championship Game, where Kalen DeBoer's team would play Texas A&M or Georgia and likely be a betting underdog against each. If Alabama were to lose in Atlanta and finish 10-3, we're still projecting a playoff appearance as the "last team in" at No. 10, but there's certainly going to be argumentative points made by a potential 11-win BYU as a Big 12 title game loser, 10-win Miami and others.

If the committee were to keep the Crimson Tide out of the bracket after a potential loss in the league title game, the entire second week of December nationally would be spent on playoff expansion speculation and why the SEC was jobbed in the final rankings for a fifth bid. League championship games matter most in auto-bid situations, but if playing in them becomes potentially detrimental to a playoff hopeful's resume in a 12-team bracket, their days are likely numbered.

There's precedent here in the expansion era and past playoffs. Last season, SMU lost in the ACC Championship Game to Clemsonvbut was picked as the final at-large selection. The Tigers were a bid-stealer of sorts, keeping a couple other two-loss hopefuls out of the mix. In 2022, unbeaten and third-ranked TCU lost the Big 12 Championship Game to Kansas State but still made the playoff. Over the course of the four-team era over a 10-year stretch, there were five teams who lost in a Power conference title game and missed the bracket as result -- 2023 Georgia, 2019 Georgia, 2018 Georgia, 2017 Auburn and 2015 Iowa. Alabama would become the first in a 12-team bracket if it beats Auburn, loses in Atlanta and gets skipped over by the committee.

Committee believes in Tulane

For the second straight week, Tulane is the Group of Five's only ranked team. The Green Wave will play in the American Championship Game against North Texas or Navy with a win over Charlotte on Saturday. James Madison is a neat story, but Louisville's late-season tank has damaged the Dukes' already weak strength of schedule, and it's clear they're not on the committee's radar. Had JMU beaten the Cardinals in September, it would likely be inside the top 20 right now with a real shot as the Sun Belt's projected champion. North Texas remains our projected Group of Five playoff representative at CBS Sports. With Drew Mestemaker at quarterback, we expect the Mean Green to beat Temple, take out Tulane for a conference title and play at fifth-seeded Texas Tech in the opening round.