Ohio State claims No. 1 spot in initial rankings

Halloween is in the past and the calendar has flipped to November, meaning it’s almost College Football Playoff season.

Heading into Week 11, college football fans can throw the AP poll to the side and turn their attention to the CFP rankings which will ultimately help determine their team’s fate at the end of the season. The first edition of the 2025 rankings were released by the committee on Tuesday evening, giving a better look into where they stand with four weeks to go until conference championship weekend.

In Week 10, Texas made a statement with a big win over Vanderbilt and Oklahoma won a de facto playoff battle on the road against Tennessee. On the other side of things, both Georgia Tech and Miami took upset losses, leaving the ACC wide open with a month to play.

Here are the selection committee’s full rankings heading into Week 11.

Ohio State (8-0)
Indiana (9-0)
Texas A&M (8-0)
Alabama (7-1)
Georgia (7-1)
Ole Miss (8-1)
BYU (8-0)
Texas Tech (8-1)
Oregon (7-1)
Notre Dame (6-2)
Texas (7-2)
Oklahoma (7-2)
Utah (7-2)
Virginia (8-1)
Louisville (7-1)
Vanderbilt (7-2)
Georgia Tech (8-1)
Miami (FL) (6-2)
USC (6-2)
Iowa (6-2)
Michigan (7-2)
Missouri (6-2)
Washington (6-2)
Pittsburgh (7-2)
Tennessee (6-3)

The clear emphasis in these rankings is head-to-head matchups between teams ranked near each other. Virginia is the highest-ranked ACC team and is one spot above Louisville after beating the Cardinals in overtime earlier in the year. Texas is one spot above Oklahoma after its victory in the Red River Rivalry this season.

Another big storyline is the lack of a Group of Five team anywhere in the rankings. At the moment, unranked Memphis would be in the field as the No. 12 seed as the highest-ranked Group of Five team. The Tigers and the rest of the American, where the G5 representative will likely come from, will have a chance to earn a spot in the rankings during the last month of the season.

Iowa is not ranked in the AP poll, but it jumped all the way to No. 20 in the CFP rankings with a 6-2 record. The Hawkeyes nearly knocked off Indiana this season and have looked very good in recent weeks, with the committee giving them credit for that.

Week 11’s slate is highlighted by a difficult game for No. 9 Oregon on the road against that aforementioned Iowa team, as well as a top 10 showdown in the Big 12 between No. 7 BYU and No. 8 Texas Tech. No. 3 Texas A&M also goes on the road to play No. 22 Missouri, so there is certain to be plenty of shakeup before the Week 12 edition of the rankings.