The College Football Playoff race tightened again this weekend, and the bracket looks different than it did seven days ago. Georgia has climbed to No. 1 in the new AP Top 25, Notre Dame is holding firm at No. 2, and a crowd of one-loss contenders is scrapping for the final at-large seats. These are our Week 7 projections: where the 12-team field, the seeds, and the first-round matchups would stand if the season ended today, built straight off this week’s AP poll.
How we build these projections
Our method mirrors the real College Football Playoff selection rules. Five automatic bids go to the five highest-ranked conference champions: the top team in the SEC, the Big Ten, the Big 12, and the ACC, plus the highest-ranked Group of Five champion. The next seven highest-ranked teams earn at-large bids, with Notre Dame eligible as an independent. We then seed all twelve straight by their AP ranking, with one twist: the Group of Five champion drops to the lowest seed it qualifies for, usually the 12 seed.
The top four seeds earn a first-round bye. Seeds 5 through 12 meet in first-round games hosted on the higher seed’s home campus, and there is no reseeding after that round. For a full breakdown of the format and this season’s rule tweaks, see our College Football Playoff format cheat sheet. One note on method: we build the field from the AP poll, while the real bracket will eventually run off the selection committee’s own rankings, so treat this as a projection rather than a final seeding.
Projected 12-team bracket (Week 7)
| Seed | Team | Conference | How they get in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia | SEC | SEC champion (auto bid) |
| 2 | Notre Dame | Independent | At-large |
| 3 | Miami | ACC | ACC champion (auto bid) |
| 4 | Ohio State | Big Ten | Big Ten champion (auto bid) |
| 5 | Indiana | Big Ten | At-large |
| 6 | Alabama | SEC | At-large |
| 7 | Texas | SEC | At-large |
| 8 | BYU | Big 12 | Big 12 champion (auto bid) |
| 9 | Ole Miss | SEC | At-large |
| 10 | Texas Tech | Big 12 | At-large |
| 11 | Utah | Big 12 | At-large |
| 12 | Boise State | Mountain West | Group of Five champion (auto bid) |
Seeds 1 through 4 earn the byes: Georgia, Notre Dame, Miami, and Ohio State all sit out the opening weekend. Here is how the first round sets up, with the higher seed hosting on campus.
First round (seeds 5 to 12)
- No. 12 Boise State at No. 5 Indiana
- No. 11 Utah at No. 6 Alabama
- No. 10 Texas Tech at No. 7 Texas
- No. 9 Ole Miss at No. 8 BYU
Quarterfinals (no reseeding)
- No. 1 Georgia vs. the No. 8 BYU and No. 9 Ole Miss winner
- No. 2 Notre Dame vs. the No. 7 Texas and No. 10 Texas Tech winner
- No. 3 Miami vs. the No. 6 Alabama and No. 11 Utah winner
- No. 4 Ohio State vs. the No. 5 Indiana and No. 12 Boise State winner
Projected conference champions
Our projected league winners are simply each conference’s highest-ranked AP team this week. That gives us five automatic qualifiers:
- SEC: Georgia
- Big Ten: Ohio State
- Big 12: BYU
- ACC: Miami
- Group of Five: Boise State (Mountain West)
Boise State is the lone Group of Five team in this week’s AP Top 25, so it holds the fifth automatic bid and slides to the 12 seed under the format rules. If a higher-ranked Group of Five team emerges, say a James Madison or a Memphis making a run, that spot could change hands in a hurry.
First teams out
The first four teams on the outside looking in, in order of this week’s AP ranking, are UCLA, Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky. UCLA would be the next team into the field if a bid opened up, and with so many one-loss teams bunched together, a single upset Saturday could swing two or three of these seeds. The SEC’s depth is the story here: three of the first four out come from that league alone.
How the national bracketologists see it
The top of our projection lines up with where the national outlets have the favorites. Georgia, Notre Dame, Miami, and Ohio State are the consensus picks for the top tier of the bracket, and most 12-team projections you will see at ESPN, Athlon, Rotowire, and Bleacher Report share that same leading group. Where an AP-based projection like ours can split from a committee-based one is in the details: the committee weighs strength of schedule and head-to-head results more heavily than poll voters do, it does not publish its own rankings until later in the season, and it can seed two-loss conference contenders differently. Expect the middle seeds, roughly 7 through 11, to be the most volatile as those models diverge.
The bowl picture
Beyond the Playoff, the rest of the bowl season is starting to take shape too. The quarterfinals and semifinals of the 12-team bracket are hosted inside the New Year’s Six bowls, while the non-Playoff bowls fill out with the next tier of teams. If you want the full slate of dates, sites, and tie-ins, our printable 2026-27 college football bowl schedule lays out every game, and our printable College Football Playoff bracket schedule tracks the Playoff path from the first round to the national title game.
Print your own bracket
Want to fill in the rest of the bracket yourself? We built a printable version of this week’s projected field, with all twelve seeds and the first-round matchups already filled in, ready to mark up as the games play out.
More from Sports Brackets
- 2026 College Football AP Top 25: Week 7 Rankings, Movers and Printable Ballot
- 2026-27 College Football Bowl Schedule (Printable)
- 2026-27 College Football Playoff Bracket Schedule (Printable)
Frequently asked questions
How many teams make the College Football Playoff?
Twelve teams make the field. Five spots go to the five highest-ranked conference champions, and the other seven are at-large bids awarded to the next highest-ranked teams, including independents like Notre Dame.
Who gets a first-round bye?
The top four seeds earn a bye straight into the quarterfinals. In this week’s projection that is Georgia, Notre Dame, Miami, and Ohio State. Seeds 5 through 12 play first-round games on the higher seed’s home campus.
Why is Boise State the 12 seed?
Boise State is the highest-ranked Group of Five team, so it claims the fifth and final automatic bid for conference champions. Under the Playoff format, the Group of Five champion is placed at the lowest seed it qualifies for, which is the 12 seed, even though its AP ranking is higher than that.
Is this the official Playoff bracket?
No. This is a projection built from the Week 7 AP Top 25. The official bracket is set by the College Football Playoff selection committee, which releases its own rankings later in the season and uses its own criteria. Our weekly projection is a way to track how the field is trending.
When does the College Football Playoff start?
The first-round games are played in December on the higher seeds’ campuses, with the quarterfinals and semifinals rolling through the New Year’s Six bowls and the national championship game to follow. See our printable bracket schedule for the full set of dates.
