The Week 6 AP Top 25 is set, so here is where the 12-team College Football Playoff field stands if the season ended today, plus the projected bowl picture and how the national bracketologists see it. We refresh this every Sunday night once the new AP poll drops, right up until the College Football Playoff Committee releases its own rankings in November.
How we build these projections
The CFP Committee does not release its first official rankings until early November, so until then we lean on the AP Top 25 as our proxy for the selection order, then apply the playoff’s real seeding rules on top of it. For the full breakdown of the format and this year’s rule tweaks, see our 2026 college football rule changes and CFP format cheat sheet.
Here is the quick version of the 12-team format. Twelve teams get in: the five highest-ranked conference champions earn automatic bids, and the next seven highest-ranked teams get at-large spots. With four power conferences (SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, ACC) plus one guaranteed spot for the highest-ranked Group of Five champion, that fifth auto bid always comes from a Group of Five league. Teams are then seeded straight down the rankings, so the top four seeds earn a first-round bye and seeds 5 through 12 play opening-round games on the higher seed’s campus.
Because we use current AP position to stand in for who would win each league, this weekly bracket answers one question: if the poll were the committee today, who would be in and where would they sit? The national bracketologists further down answer a different one, projecting who finishes there in January.
Projected 12-team bracket (Week 6)
Built from the Week 6 AP Top 25, using each conference’s top-ranked team as its projected champion and seeding the field straight down the poll. Field shown as of October 4, 2026.
| Seed | Team | Conference | How they get in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas | SEC | SEC champion (auto bid, bye) |
| 2 | Georgia | SEC | At-large (bye) |
| 3 | Notre Dame | Independent | At-large (bye) |
| 4 | Miami (FL) | ACC | ACC champion (auto bid, bye) |
| 5 | Ohio State | Big Ten | Big Ten champion (auto bid) |
| 6 | Alabama | SEC | At-large |
| 7 | Indiana | Big Ten | At-large |
| 8 | BYU | Big 12 | Big 12 champion (auto bid) |
| 9 | Ole Miss | SEC | At-large |
| 10 | LSU | SEC | At-large |
| 11 | Texas Tech | Big 12 | At-large |
| 12 | Boise State | Mountain West | Group of Five champion (auto bid) |
First round (on the higher seed’s campus)
- (5) Ohio State vs (12) Boise State
- (6) Alabama vs (11) Texas Tech
- (7) Indiana vs (10) LSU
- (8) BYU vs (9) Ole Miss
Quarterfinal pairings (New Year’s Six bowls)
- (1) Texas vs the BYU or Ole Miss winner
- (2) Georgia vs the Indiana or LSU winner
- (3) Notre Dame vs the Alabama or Texas Tech winner
- (4) Miami vs the Ohio State or Boise State winner
There is no reseeding after the first round, so the bracket holds: the No. 1 seed meets the 8 versus 9 winner, the No. 2 seed the 7 versus 10 winner, the No. 3 seed the 6 versus 11 winner, and the No. 4 seed the 5 versus 12 winner.
Projected conference champions
- SEC: Texas
- Big Ten: Ohio State
- ACC: Miami (FL)
- Big 12: BYU
- Group of Five: Boise State (Mountain West)
Notre Dame, as an independent, cannot win a conference, so the Fighting Irish ride their No. 3 ranking in as the top at-large seed. Boise State sits at No. 23 in the AP poll but lands the No. 12 seed as the highest-ranked Group of Five champion, the one spot the format guarantees a non-power league.
First teams out
The field cuts off just above a cluster of one-loss contenders. The first four out this week, in order:
- Utah (No. 12 AP, Big 12)
- Oregon (No. 13 AP, Big Ten)
- Missouri (No. 14 AP, SEC)
- Tennessee (No. 15 AP, SEC)
Utah is the closest to breaking in. One slip by a team ahead of it, or one more marquee win, and the Utes are the next name on the bracket.
How the national bracketologists see it
Our projection reads straight off the AP poll, so it is deliberately simple. The national outlets build in strength of schedule, head-to-head results and the eye test, which is why their boards diverge from ours at the margins. Through the first month, ESPN, Athlon, Rotowire and Bleacher Report broadly agree on the top tier, with Texas, Georgia and Ohio State anchoring the group and a bye in reach for the likes of Miami and Notre Dame. Where they split is the back half of the bracket and the Group of Five seed, where a one-loss SEC or Big 12 team can jump a spot or two depending on the metric. Treat ours as the poll’s snapshot and theirs as the forecast; the two converge once the committee publishes real rankings in November.
Bowl picture
The New Year’s Six bowls host the playoff quarterfinals and semifinals, with the other bowl games filling out late December and early January. The full lineup, dates and TV channels live on our printable guides:
- 2026-27 College Football Bowl Schedule: printable grid and TV guide
- 2026-27 College Football Playoff schedule and 12-team bracket sheet
As the field firms up, we will layer projected non-playoff matchups into this section each week.
Print this week’s bracket
We turned the projected field above into a free printable bracket, prefilled with this week’s teams and dated so you can track how it moves week to week.
Prefer a blank one to fill in yourself? Grab our blank printable College Football Playoff bracket.
More from Sports Brackets
- 2026 College Football AP Top 25: Week 6
- 2026 college football rule changes and CFP format
- 2026-27 College Football Bowl Schedule: printable grid and TV guide
- 2026-27 College Football Playoff schedule and 12-team bracket sheet
Frequently asked questions
How is the 12-team playoff field decided?
Five conference champions get automatic bids and the next seven highest-ranked teams get at-large spots. Teams are then seeded straight down the rankings, with the top four seeds earning a first-round bye.
Who are the projected top four seeds in Week 6?
Texas, Georgia, Notre Dame and Miami hold the top four spots this week, so each would earn a bye straight to the quarterfinals.
Why does a Group of Five team make it?
The five automatic bids go to the five highest-ranked conference champions. With four power conferences, the fifth champion always comes from a Group of Five league, so the top-ranked Group of Five champion earns a spot. This week that is Boise State of the Mountain West.
Why use the AP poll instead of the CFP rankings?
The College Football Playoff Committee does not publish its first rankings until early November. Until then, the AP Top 25 is the best weekly proxy for the selection order.
How often is this updated?
Every Sunday night, after the new AP Top 25 is released, right up until the CFP Committee takes over with its own rankings in November.
