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

The Ole Miss Rebels enacted their revenge on Lane Kiffin and the LSU Tigers on Saturday night, and in turn, increased their chances of making the College Football Playoff.

Pete Golding's team now has two September wins over Top 25 teams and it is poised to make a leap in Sunday's AP poll.

LSU isn't out of the playoff picture by any stretch of the imagination, but it has to recover quickly ahead of a trip to Texas A&M.

A&M was on the wrong end of Week 3's biggest upset, as it fell to the Kentucky Wildcats at Kyle Field.

The Louisville Cardinals, who lost to Ole Miss in Week 1, were the biggest early winner in the CFB Playoff picture. They took down the SMU Mustangs in a battle of ACC contenders.

Ole Miss Knocks Off LSU, Earns Second Top 25 Win

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Ole Miss' CFB Playoff resume is the strongest of any playoff contender through three weeks.

The Rebels fended off a comeback attempt from LSU to win 32-24 on home soil.

Trinidad Chambliss ran in the winning touchdown for Ole Miss to hand LSU its first loss of the Lane Kiffin era.

Ole Miss now has a pair of Top 25 wins over LSU and Louisville. Its schedule now eases up a bit in SEC play with two straight unranked foes.

The Rebels still have to play Texas and Georgia, but even if they lose those games, they can finish 10-2 and easily be in the playoff.

As for LSU, it has to rebound fast against an A&M team that also suffered a Week 3 defeat.

LSU has Alabama, Texas and Tennessee in three straight weeks to begin November, so it almost feels like the A&M game is a must-win for the Tigers to have some comfort in the playoff discussion before that stretch at the end of SEC play.

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.