After another chaotic weekend of college football action, ESPN’s Heather Dinich is back with another round of projected CFP rankings.
With the season right around the midway point, there’s been a ton of shuffling atop the 12 best teams.
But as things stand right now, here’s how Dinich and the Worldwide Leader sees the College Football Playoff bracket through seven hard-fought weeks.
Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images.
ESPN predicts 12-team playoff field through 7 weeks
With only two Saturdays remaining until the selection committee officially reveals its first CFP rankings, here’s a look at what Dinich predicts based on the past criteria and protocol of the powers that be:
- Miami (ACC champ)
- Ohio State (B1G champ)
- BYU (Big 12 champ)
- Notre Dame
- Indiana
- Georgia (SEC champ)
- Ole Miss
- UCLA
- Kentucky
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Boise State (Last team in)
That would mean the 2026 playoff bracket would look something like this:
First-Round Byes
- No. 1 Miami (ACC champ)
- No. 2 Ohio State (Big Ten champ)
- No. 3 BYU (Big 12 champ)
- No. 4 Notre Dame
First-Round Games
- No. 12 Boise State (highest G6) at No. 5 Indiana
- No. 11 Utah at No. 6 Georgia (SEC champ)
- No. 10 Tennessee at No. 7 Ole Miss
- No. 9 Kentucky at No. 8 UCLA
Quarterfinal Games
- No. 12 Boise State/No. 5 Indiana winner vs. No. 4 Notre Dame
- No. 11 Utah/No. 6 Georgia winner vs. No. 3 BYU
- No. 10 Tennessee/No. 7 Ole Miss winner vs. No. 2 Ohio State
- No. 9 Kentucky/No. 8 UCLA winner vs. No. 1 Miami
Dinich actually had the Texas Tech Red Raiders as the No. 12 team in the country. But due to a Group of 6 team needing to be represented in the current format, Tech projects as the first team out of the bracket.
