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Miami's tenuous hold on the No. 1 spot and 3 more thoughts on the CFP rankings

The Hurricanes don't have much room for error with this CFP committee
ByCorey Long
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Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal holds the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl trophy after their 31-27 win over the Ole Miss Rebels at State Farm Stadium on Jan. 8, 2026.
Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal holds the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl trophy after their 31-27 win over the Ole Miss Rebels at State Farm Stadium on Jan. 8, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The initial CFP rankings dropped on Tuesday night, and even though it's good that the Miami Hurricanes are No. 1, we were left with more questions than answers by the committee.

There's no question there has to be a better way than this, and hopefully that way will come with the planned 24-team expansion. As for these rankings, I have plenty of thoughts:

Miami's hold on the No. 1 spot is probably shaky

The Hurricanes opened the CFP rankings in the top spot, but I'm not buying them staying there even if they win out and finish the regular season 13-0. Georgia is right there at No. 2, and with the way the committee is counting any win in the SEC as a quality win (unless they beat Alabama, more on that below), it's just a matter of time before the Bulldogs jump the Hurricanes. The good news is that as long as Miami takes care of business, a top-four seed feels like a guarantee.

The CFP makes no secret about its desire to be an SEC Invitational

The CFP is still a big ESPN/SEC dance party, no matter how much the committee tried to do something "shocking" and put Utah at No. 3 or Indiana at No. 4. There were five teams from the SEC in the Top 10 and eight in the Top 20. Alabama at No. 5 is pretty laughable since they have two losses, one of them of the blowout variety to a Tennessee team that is eight spots below them for the same reason.

And it was rich that CFP chair Hunter Yurachek said the Volunteers lacked quality wins, but mentioned Alabama's quality win over 4-4 Mississippi State. I know the Crimson Tide gets graded on the curve, but can the committee not make it so obvious?

ESPN completely flubbed the Ohio State discussion

Overall, the ESPN broadcast with Rece Davis, Booger McFarland, Joey Galloway, and Greg McElroy kept it moving, choosing to talk about the rankings in real time rather than spend 45 minutes building anticipation before getting to the numbers. However, they didn't get anywhere when discussing Ohio State's No. 12 ranking.

McElroy, in particular, spent a minute blabbing about Ohio State "putting it all on the line" with the Texas game, which had been agreed upon back in 2012. He seemed to believe that the Buckeyes were being punished for playing and losing the game rather than the injury to quarterback Julian Sayin. 

We all know that if Sayin was healthy, even a two-loss Ohio State team would probably be inside the Top 10. But, the committee set a precedent a few years ago that major injuries matter - they honored that standard. McElroy, however, missed the mark. 

There's not much room for a feel-good story

Utah is No. 3, but the Utes have been in these deep waters before. UCLA, undefeated and all, is at No. 8, which means that a single loss could drop them 10 spots. I wonder if the committee regrets letting Indiana break through the college football plutocracy that existed before the NIL shook up the system?

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