The calendar is about to turn to November and that means we’re only days away from learning just what the College Football Playoff selection committee thinks during a particularly outlandish season.
It also means we’re at the point in the season where teams can start locking up playoff bids (hello, Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M and Mississippi) or reaching that elusive mark of six wins to guarantee postseason inclusion. Several programs figure to be in the mix for their first bowl games, while a handful of others are going bowling for the first time in several seasons as part of some impressive turnarounds.
So who is going where? factored in current results and the way teams are playing to project out the rest of the season.
When it comes to the CFP, that means making a handful of key decisions over certain spots. Right now, Tulane has edged slightly ahead of conference rivals South Florida, Memphis and Navy in the race for the Group of 5 spot, which is pretty much locked into being the 12-seed at this point. There’s also a bit of a mess brewing in the Big 12, which has an outside shot of a four-way tie. Texas Tech gets the nod over BYU by virtue of hosting the Cougars in Lubbock in two weeks, but don’t discount Houston or Cincinnati from also eyeing a CFP berth.
Another subplot is who winds up hosting the first-round games. Georgia and Miami both have strong enough résumés to do so even if they don’t make it to their respective conference title games. One particular case to pay attention to is Oregon, which has only a single win against a team over .500 (Northwestern). It would help if USC and Washington keep winning to set up opportunities to secure Top 25 wins, but it’s possible a weak slate costs the Ducks a home game at Autzen Stadium.
As for the other bowl games, there are fun matchups on deck after Week 9, including a Cure Bowl between two excellent Group of 5 teams, an old Fiesta Bowl rematch between Boise State and Arizona at the L.A. Bowl, two of the most explosive offenses in FBS meeting in the Gator Bowl and, of course, Diego Pavia trying to ride off into the sunset with Vanderbilt against Michigan in the Citrus Bowl.
With all that in mind, here is how sees the playoff and all of 35 bowl games coming together to form the postseason picture in 2025–26 after Week 9.
College Football Playoff Projected Rankings After Week 9Ohio StateAlabamaIndianaTexas A&MGeorgiaMiamiMississippiGeorgia TechOregonNotre Dame Texas TechTulaneFirst RoundNo. 12 Tulane at No. 5 GeorgiaNo. 11 Texas Tech at No. 6 Miami No. 10 Notre Dame at No. 7 MississippiNo. 9 Oregon at No. 8 Georgia TechQuarterfinalsCotton Bowl: No. 4 Texas A&M vs. winner of No. 12 Tulane at No. 5 GeorgiaOrange Bowl: No. 3 Indiana vs. winner of No. 11 Texas Tech at No. 6 Miami Sugar Bowl: No. 2 Alabama vs. winner of No. 10 Notre Dame at No. 7 MississippiRose Bowl: No. 1 Ohio State vs. winner of No. 9 Oregon at No. 8 Georgia Tech
