Ohio State, Indiana top the first College Football Playoff rankings

The College Football Playoff selection committee released its first rankings on Nov. 4. Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M and Alabama are the top four teams. 

Here is everything you need to know about the first College Football Playoff rankings of 2025.

First College Football Playoff selection committee top-25 rankings

What the 12-team bracket could look like

The 12-team College Football Playoff field will include the five highest-ranked conference champions, which will receive automatic bids. The seven highest-ranked teams remaining will round out the 12-team bracket. 

In a change from last season, the teams ranked Nos. 1-4 in the CFP rankings would earn the top four seeds and a first-round bye, regardless of whether they win their conference championship or not. As of the first CFP rankings, the top four seeds would be No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Indiana, No. 3 Texas A&M and No. 4 Alabama.

Seeds 5-12 will play each other in the first round, with the higher-seeded teams hosting at campus sites. The highest-ranked ACC team in the CFP rankings is Virginia at No. 14. Assuming Virginia wins the ACC championship, it would earn an automatic bid and would be the No. 11 seed in the CFP. There are no Group of 5 teams in the initial top-25, but Memphis would be projected as the highest-ranked G5 team at this point, so the Tigers are projected as the No. 12 seed in the bracket. The first teams out of the playoffs in this bracket would be No. 11 Texas and No. 12 Oklahoma.

Conferences with the most teams in the CFP top-25

The SEC has the most teams in the top-25 of any conference with nine, followed by the Big Ten with seven. Here's how the top-25 breaks down by conference.