Playoff Picture

College Football

Playoff Picture

The projected 12-team College Football Playoff field using the Two Deep Consensus.

Highest-ranked P4 teams are treated as projected conference champions until title games are played.

2026 · Week 4 · Updated Sep. 23

Top 25 Playoff Picture

12Teams5Conference AQs

Notre Dame6At-large

First roundQuarterfinalsSemifinalsChampionship

First-round bye

vs

Winner #8 / #9

Semifinal 1

#1 path winner

Texas / Alabama / LSU

#4 path winner

Notre Dame / Indiana / Tulsa

National
Championship

Semifinal 1 winner

Semifinal 2 winner

IndianaBig Ten 12

TulsaAmerican Athletic

Notre DameFBS Independents

First-round bye

vs

Winner #5 / #12

Texas TechBig 12

First-round bye

vs

Winner #7 / #10

Semifinal 2

#2 path winner

Georgia / Ole Miss / Texas Tech

#3 path winner

Ohio State / Miami / BYU

Ohio StateBig Ten

First-round bye

vs

Winner #6 / #11

On the bubbleNext in line by consensus rank

First out

Next out

TennesseeSEC 14

OregonBig Ten 15

Why USC is out

USC is ranked #12 in the Two Deep Consensus, but Tulsa (#29, G6 AQ) holds one of the 12 berths as an automatic qualifier. USC becomes the first team out.

Automatic qualifiersThe assumptions behind the field

ACCProjected AQ

MiamiTD #6 · Seed 6

Big TenProjected AQ

Ohio StateTD #3 · Seed 3

Big 12Projected AQ

Texas TechTD #10 · Seed 10

SECProjected AQ

TexasTD #1 · Seed 1

G6 · American AthleticHighest-ranked non-P4

TulsaTD #29 · Seed 12

Notre DameTop-12 berth

Notre DameTD #4 · Seed 4