2026 College Football Playoff Odds: Could Ohio State Be Left Out?

The 2026 College Football Playoff will once again feature 12 teams. Just like in 2025, the four highest-ranked teams overall in the final selection committee rankings earn the top four seeds and first-round byes, regardless of whether they won a conference title. The remaining playoff teams will then be seeded based entirely on the final CFP rankings. The final automatic bid (usually the 12th seed) will go to the highest-ranked team from one of the Group of 6 conferences (American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12, or Sun Belt), regardless of whether it won its conference championship.