College Football Playoff bracket 2026: projected field and seeds

Our projection, not the committee’s

Our projection, Oct 13, 2026: No. 1 seed Georgia; byes Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Ohio State

The 12 seeds

1GeorgiaBye2AlabamaBye3TexasBye4Ohio StateBye5Notre DameHome6KentuckyHome7LSUHome8MiamiHome9IndianaAway10UCLAAway11UtahAway12Boise StateAway

First round

Quarterfinals (Nos. 1 to 4 join)

  • 1Georgia

    plays the winner of 8 Miami or 9 Indiana

  • 2Alabama

    plays the winner of 7 LSU or 10 UCLA

  • 3Texas

    plays the winner of 6 Kentucky or 11 Utah

  • 4Ohio State

    plays the winner of 5 Notre Dame or 12 Boise State

Semifinal and title-game pairings follow from the winners.

Next out

How a team gets in Reported, not confirmed

  • 12 teams make the field.
  • The champions of the Big Ten, SEC, ACC and Big 12 get in.
  • The best-ranked Group of Six team gets a spot, champion or not.
  • Notre Dame gets a spot if it is ranked in the top 12.
  • The remaining spots go to the next highest-ranked teams. Seeds follow rank, and the top four seeds get a bye.

These rules come from news reports. We have not matched them to the official playoff text. Source

Built Oct 13, 2026. Uses our power rankings as of Oct 13.