What CFP Bracket Looks Like After Top 25 AP Preseason Poll Released for 2026-27 Season

Sure, the 2026 college football season hasn't even started yet, and recent history suggests the final Top 25 rankings will look much different than the preseason ones.

But Monday's release of the initial Associated Press Top 25 means it's never too early to start looking ahead to the College Football Playoff.

With that in mind, Eric Olson of the Associated Press gathered what the 12-team CFP bracket with the current rules in place would look like if the preseason AP Poll ends up being the final playoff one:

• No. 1 Ohio State receives a bye and plays the winner of No. 9 Ole Miss at No. 8 Texas A&M
• No. 2 Oregon receives a bye and plays the winner of No. 10 Oklahoma at No. 7 Miami
• No. 3 Georgia receives a bye and plays the winner of No. 11 Texas Tech at No. 6 Indiana
• No. 4 Notre Dame receives a bye and plays the winner of No. 12 Boise State at No. 5 Texas

Here is a look at the full Top 25:

1. Ohio State
2. Oregon
3. Georgia
4. Notre Dame
5. Texas
6. Indiana
7. Miami
8. Texas A&M
9. Ole Miss
10. Oklahoma
11. LSU
12. Texas Tech
13. Alabama
14. BYU
15. USC
16. Michigan
17. Washington
18. Penn State
19. SMU
20. Tennessee
21. Utah
22. Iowa
23. Houston
24. Louisville
25. Missouri

Perhaps the first thing that jumps out is LSU being excluded from the bracket even though it is ranked in the top 12.

That is because it would be jumped by both Texas Tech and Boise State. The Red Raiders would be in over the Tigers as the highest-ranked Big 12 team (and presumed champion for this exercise), while the Broncos would land the No. 12 spot as the highest-ranked Group of Six team.

Boise State is not even in the initial Top 25, but it received the most votes from Group of Six qualifiers.

The five highest-ranked conference champions (four from the Power Four and the other from the Group of Six) each receive an automatic spot in the 12-team field. That could realistically eliminate a Power Four team that is ranked in the top 12 by season's end.

The remaining seven spots will be at-large ones, although Notre Dame automatically receives one if it is ranked in the top 12 in the final CFP rankings.

Home games on campus for the first round will remain with the better-ranked team hosting. The first round games will be Dec. 18 and 19 this season with the quarterfinals scheduled for Dec. 30 and Jan. 1.

From there, the semifinals will be on Jan. 14 and 15 with the national championship game on Jan. 25.

It is a fairly safe assumption that plenty of the sport's powerhouses that are ranked so highly to start the season will be in the 12-team CFP field. Nobody would be surprised if Ohio State, Oregon, Georgia, Texas and Notre Dame, among others, were safely included in the field.

Still, assumptions only go so far in college football, as last season illustrated:

Perhaps the better question is which highly ranked teams in this year's preseason Top 25 will fall out of the rankings and no longer be serious contenders by the time December arrives.