The 2025-2026 NCAA College Football season has been a wild ride. The campaign has seen the rise of new dynasties, the failure of established programs, and the emergence of unexpected Heisman Trophy favorites. Off the field, debates over NIL money, conference championships, and the 12-team College Football Playoff shaped the season. College Football has never been more bizarre than it is today, and the events of this season will define legacies and change the landscape of the sport, along with college sports as a whole, for years to come.
But before we can progress to the greater picture, we must analyze the 12-team playoff field, featuring five obligatory conference champions and seven at-large bids. This year’s selection committee made their picks on the 6th of December, bringing intrigue to the schools admitted and resentment for those who were left out. The playoff field is simple: the top four schools earn a first-round bye, with the other eight playing in first-round games for the right to move on. In Bowl games through December and January, the schools will progress through the bracket, until the top two compete for the National Championship in Miami.
The #1 school in the nation is the Indiana Hoosiers, led by Heisman Trophy favorite Fernando Mendoza and head coach Curt Cignetti. After making the playoffs as an at-large bid last year but losing in the first round, Cignetti promised another exceeding of expectations, and Indiana wasted no time making their presence known. Their week four drubbing of Illinois put them in the national spotlight, and their week seven upset of Oregon demonstrated their legitimate ability to compete for a National Championship. They kept their undefeated record into the Big 10 title game, where the heroics of wide receiver Charlie Becker allowed them to upset Ohio State and steal the #1 seed.
The aforementioned Ohio State maintained the #1 ranking for almost the entire year, but lost it to Indiana in the Big 10 title game, so they slot in at the second seed. Their week 1 thriller against Texas gave rookie quarterback Julian Sayin his first victory. Despite being the reigning champions, Ohio State looked better than ever, with wide receivers Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate carving up defenses, and defensive players Caleb Downs and Arvell Reese winning national awards for their efforts. Their defeat of Michigan in The Game ended a four-game losing streak in that contest for coach Ryan Day, and despite their late loss to the Hoosiers, the Buckeyes seem well-positioned to chase a repeat title.
In the third seed, SEC champion Georgia stands tall. The Bulldogs got off to a hot start under new quarterback Gunner Stockton, winning an overtime match over dangerous Tennessee, but hiccupped at home against SEC rival Alabama. They would not be perturbed, however, rebounding with victories over Auburn, Ole Miss, and Florida. Defeating Texas all but ended the Longhorns’ playoff hopes, and an intrastate W over Georgia Tech cemented their contender status. A dominating 28-7 redemption victory over Alabama in the SEC title game sent the Bulldogs to their second straight playoff bye.
The fourth seed went to a third conference champion in Texas Tech. Early in the season, the Red Raiders fended off Big 12 competition, defeating Utah and Houston. They stuttered against Arizona State, but responded by shutting down Bear Bachmeier and high-ranked BYU, then smashing through lowly UCF and West Virginia to get to the Big 12 title game. They easily dispatched BYU in their rematch, with linebacker Jacob Rodriguez stealing the spotlight and garnering Heisman Trophy consideration.
The #5 and #6 seeds, Oregon and Ole Miss, did not win their conferences, but with only one loss each they earned high spots in the postseason tournament. With the exception of their loss to Indiana, Dante Moore and Oregon dominated the Big 10, and Trinidad Chambliss and Mississippi exerted similar strength over the SEC with the exception of their loss to Georgia. Former Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin’s departure for LSU two weeks ago brought intrigue, but the squad would not be perturbed, rallying around interim coach Pete Golding.
Seeds seven through nine went to SEC powerhouses as well, though all three of these schools have flaws. #7 Texas A&M went undefeated until the final weekend of the season, when they lost a rivalry game to #13 Texas, so they fell four spots but maintained their strong standing. #8 Oklahoma also started hot under quarterback John Mateer, but the team struggled to return to form after a hand injury threatened Mateer’s season. #9 Alabama had some signature wins, including victories over Georgia and Ole Miss, but lost to lowly Florida State on the first weekend, Oklahoma in week 12, and Georgia in the SEC title game.
The #10 spot brought the most intrigue. Miami and Notre Dame were the contenders for the seed, both with two losses. Notre Dame, after dropping their first two games to Miami and Texas A&M, argued that their ten-game win streak to end the season made them deserving of the playoffs, and that their star duo of quarterback C.J. Carr and running back Jeremiyah Love would propel them to a national championship. Miami had lost embarrassingly to Louisville and SMU, but otherwise had handled business against teams they should have beaten. The Fighting Irish argued that they shouldn’t be as harshly penalized for losing against good teams, while Miami should be punished for being upset twice and missing out on their conference’s championship. However, Miami’s argument hinged on one point: they had won the head-to-head matchup. The committee eventually sided with Miami, and despite Notre Dame being consistently ranked in the top 12, they failed to make the playoffs.
The last two spots were reserved for two more conference champions to bring their total to five. Because of a five-way tiebreaker, 7-5 overall Duke snuck into the ACC title game and upset Virginia in overtime. However, the committee decided that the Blue Devils were not better than American champion Tulane or Sun Belt champion James Madison, putting those two teams in the playoffs as the final two entrants.
This selection process has major implications for future seasons. With ACC third-place finisher Miami entering the playoffs with champion Duke being held out, schools are beginning to question the value of playing in conference championships at all. Some may decide to hold out. The exclusion of Notre Dame was understandably frustrating for the Irish, but their exemption reveals that rankings throughout the season have little bearing on eventual seeding. And the need for tiebreakers in three of the four major conferences brings up questions about their size: are the majors, with between sixteen and eighteen teams in each, too big to manage fairly?
In any case, the playoffs are set to begin on Friday the 19th, with Alabama visiting Oklahoma in an SEC rematch. The next day, Texas A&M will host Miami, Tulane will visit Ole Miss, and JMU will travel to Oregon. Indiana, Ohio State, Georgia, and Texas Tech will be waiting for the winners of those games, who will play the next weekend in historic Bowl games. Two of these teams will travel to Miami to compete in the National Championship on January 19 to finish perhaps the most unpredictable season of college football in a generation.
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