CFB Playoff Picture, Standings and Bracket Predictions After Week 3 of 2026-27 Season

The Louisville Cardinals were Saturday's early winner in the College Football Playoff perspective.

Louisville picked up a win over the SMU Mustangs in the marquee game of the mid-afternoon slate.

The Cardinals should now be viewed as the No. 1 contender to the Miami Hurricanes in the ACC.

The Texas A&M Aggies suffered Saturday's biggest set back so far. They fell at home to the Kentucky Wildcats.

A&M's playoff hopes aren't completely dashed, but the early defeat at the start of a tough SEC schedule is a big step backwards for the Aggies.

Saturday's biggest game takes place in primetime, as Lane Kiffin and the LSU Tigers visit the Ole Miss Rebels in a battle of top-10 programs in Oxford.

Texas A&M Suffers Upset Loss To Kentucky

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Texas A&M opened SEC play with a surprising home loss at the hands of Kentucky.

Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed threw a pair of picks in the loss. A&M was down three touchdowns by the end of the third quarter.

Mike Elko's team fell short in its come-from-behind effort and suffered its first defeat of the campaign.

The season obviously isn't over for the Aggies with the 12-team playoff format, but the early loss puts them in a difficult spot, especially with their SEC schedule.

A&M still has to go on the road at Missouri, Alabama and Oklahoma and it plays Tennessee at home.

The margin for error is very slim now for A&M, who will likely drop out of the top 15 in Sunday's AP Top 25.

However, if the Aggies pull off a handful of ranked wins in league play, they could still get in as an at-large team.

Louisville Takes Big Step With ACC Win Over SMU

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Louisville took a big step in its playoff contention with a home win over SMU.

SMU and Louisville entered the weekend as the presumed No. 2 and No. 3 in the ACC behind Miami.

Louisville now has a leg up on SMU in the race to get to the ACC Championship Game, where it will likely face Miami, who seems to be a class above everyone else in the conference.

The Cardinals entered Saturday at No. 23 in the AP Top 25, so they won't be in the projected playoff positions yet, but Saturday was a good first step toward a potential at-large, or even an ACC automatic berth.

Louisville doesn't play Miami in the regular season, so now that it has no more ranked teams on its schedule, it should continue to climb in the rankings.

The Cardinals are 2-1 because they lost to Ole Miss in Week 1, but that loss might not matter much in the 12-team playoff era when multiple losses can get a team into the field.