The College Football Playoffs are all but set, the Buckeyes and Hoosiers stay put but below them is total chaos.
The Ohio State Buckeyes notch the top spot in the final regular-season College Football Rankings. Head coach Ryan Day and his squad went wire-to-wire in the CFP and the AP Polls in 2025, and are well deserving.
What they did to Michigan last week in Ann Arbor was nothing short of an exclamation point on what has been one of the more dominant seasons in the recent history of college football.
One spot below them and not far behind is the Indiana Hoosier. Led by head coach Curt Cignetti, the Hoosiers have put together the second most impressive year in College Football behind just the Buckeyes.
Indiana has absolutely killed their opponents this season, showing no mercy to the lower-level competition will possessing some high-quality victories scattered throughout their schedule, including a win in Eugene against Dan Lanning's No. 5 Oregon Ducks.
This sets up for what will be a cinematic night in Indianapolis on Saturday between the No. 1 Buckeyes and the No. 2 Hoosiers with the Big Ten Championship and the top-seed on the line.
Neither of those results are a surprise to anyone in the college football world. What happened below the top two spots is going to be like a lit match into a keg of gun powder.
Georgia jumps to the No. 3 spot, which was bound to happen after Texas A&M fell to the Texas Longhorns. The Bulldogs are feeling good, but they need to have a good performance in the SEC Championship Game against the No. 9 Alabama Crimson Tide.
That rematch is going to have some really significant consequences for both the winner and loser. Does the loser of that game fall? Could the extra game harm the loser enough to push them out of the playoffs or out of a first-round bye?
A very similar conversation is relevant at the next spot that has Texas Tech ranked #4 in the playoff, with a matchup with No. 11 BYU on the horizon for the Big 12 Championship. How far would Texas Tech drop if it loses to BYU, and conversely, does BYU fall out of the bracket with a loss?
Oregon checks in at No. 5, and they feel comfortable after jumping Ole Miss. The Rebels finished the year with one loss but the soap opera of the year came to a close. Their head coach, Lane Kiffin, has officially departed. How much does the committee factor that in and is that fair? Ole Miss checks in at No. 6.
The next grouping sets up the debate of the year. Oklahoma feels like a lock at No. 7, but then it gets crazy.
Texas A&M fell four spots to No. 7 who got beat on their home field against Texas. A&M will have a home game in this scenario and that feels right for Mike Elko's squad.
Oklahoma comes in at No. 8, safely in as their season is all wrapped up.
There was a course correction this week as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish hit the No. 10 spot, one notch below the Crimson Tide at No. 9.
BYU hits the rankings at No. 11 and the Miami Hurricanes come in at No. 12. Texas is that first team out #13, which is the start of a major conversation.
Conference Championship week is going to shake this all up. How are winners rewarded? How are the losers punished? How does the committee handle Notre Dame and are they going to be on the outside looking in if BYU gets a win in the Big 12 Championship
So many questions remain but the final answers are just five short days away. The pieces will fall into place on Saturday night and the final bracket will be released on Sunday.