CFB Playoff Picture 2025-26, Standings, Scenarios, Bracket Predictions After Week 15

The Indiana Hoosiers will headline the College Football Playoff bracket when it is released on Sunday.

Indiana knocked off the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes in the Big Ten Championship Game to earn the promotion to No. 1.

Indiana and Ohio State should be in the top four along with the Georgia Bulldogs and Texas Tech Red Raiders. UGA and Texas Tech won their respective conference title games on Saturday afternoon.

Georgia's win over the Alabama Crimson Tide affected the competition for the final at-large spot. Alabama is in competition with the Miami Hurricanes and Notre Dame Fighting Irish to finish at either No. 9 or No. 10.

The Nos. 11 and 12 seeds will likely belong to Group of Five league winners thanks to the Duke Blue Devils' win in the ACC Championship Game.

Duke entered the weekend at 7-5 and behind both the Tulane Green Wave and James Madison Dukes in the CFB Playoff rankings.

Indiana Wins Big Ten, Claims No. 1 Seed

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Indiana secured the No. 1 overall seed in the CFB Playoff bracket with its Big Ten Championship Game over Ohio State.

The Hoosiers entered the weekend at No. 2 in the CFB Playoff rankings. They will move up one spot over Ohio State and earn a trip to the Rose Bowl for the quarterfinal round.

Ohio State won't drop too far from its top ranking. The Buckeyes should be the No. 3 seed behind Indiana and Georgia and ahead of Texas Tech.

Ohio State might have a case for the No. 2 ranking since it played a close game against the top seed in its only loss, but the selection committee may value UGA's SEC title over that.

Either way, the Big Ten will have two teams in the top four and a third playing in the first round at home in the Oregon Ducks.

Georgia, Texas Tech Win Conference Title Games, Lock in First-Round Byes

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Georgia and Texas Tech confirmed their positions in the top four of the CFB Playoff rankings.

The Bulldogs and Red Raiders entered Saturday at Nos. 3 and 4 behind the pair of Big Ten Championship Game participants.

No teams beneath UGA and Texas Tech can jump them, so it is all but confirmed that the SEC and Big 12 title winners will have first-round byes.

Georgia will most likely play in the Sugar Bowl for its quarterfinal, while Texas Tech seems destined for the Cotton Bowl.

Alabama's Playoff Position In Peril

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Alabama's playoff spot is at risk after the multi-score defeat in Atlanta.

The Crimson Tide moved up one spot to No. 9 in Tuesday's ranking, but now a tumble is expected after the way in which they lost to Georgia.

Alabama's offense, which was without its top two running backs, didn't score until the fourth quarter.

Kalen DeBoer's side now sits at 10-3 with double-digit losses to Georgia and the Florida State Seminoles, as well as a two-point defeat to the Oklahoma Sooners.

Notre Dame is 10-2 with early-season defeats to Miami and the Texas A&M Aggies. Miami is 10-2 with close losses in conference play to the Louisville Cardinals and SMU Mustangs.

Most notably, Miami owns the head-to-head win over Notre Dame, but that has yet to matter to the selection committee with the Hurricanes further down the rankings compared to the Fighting Irish.

The committee has to decide how much they weigh Alabama's SEC Championship Game performance. On one hand, the Crimson Tide got to Atlanta, but its three losses would be the most of any potential at-large team.

On record alone, Notre Dame and Miami should be in the field, but there's a chance the last at-large spot comes down to the two programs and the head-to-head result is the deciding factor.

At minimum, Alabama's spot in the top 10 is in peril because of its number of losses and the way in which it performed in two of those three defeats, including Saturday's loss.

Duke Wins ACC, Gives JMU Path to Playoff

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Duke pulled off the final upset of the college football regular season with an overtime triumph over Virginia.

The Blue Devils moved to 8-5 with the victory, a record likely not good enough to put them into the playoff.

Duke entered the weekend behind both Tulane and James Madison in the CFB Playoff rankings.

Tulane won the American, JMU won the Sun Belt, so that qualifies them to be two of the five highest-ranked conference champions that earn automatic bids to the playoff.

The assumption is that winning conference titles will only help Tulane and JMU, so there's no path for Duke to climb into the playoff.

The ACC's only shot at putting a team in the playoff lies with Miami, who is not guaranteed to get in as an at-large squad.