Projected College Football Playoff bracket based on Week 8 AP Top 25

College football Week 7 was one of the most consequential to date. There were eight teams ranked in the Top 25 that lost on Saturday, causing a massive shakeup in the Week 8 poll.

With this being the second year of the 12-team College Football Playoff, every upset has huge implications for the what the bracket could look like. This will be the first season where straight seeding will be implemented instead of the top four conference champions earning a first round bye.

Projecting the 2026 CFP bracket based on the Week 8 AP rankings

If the season were to end today, there would be some brand new faces getting a first round bye. The race for the other eight at-large bids would be hotly contested as well.

Top 4 byes

After a turnover heavy second half in Eugene, the Indiana Hoosiers took down the Oregon Ducks and saw themselves leapfrog from No. 7 to No. 3 overnight. Last season, Curt Cignetti's boys got as high as No. 5 before ultimately falling to Ohio State late in the year. They made the playoff then, now they are in as good a position as any to get back with a better seed.

They trail only Ohio State and Miami who clung to their respective No. 1 and No. 2 spots. Texas A&M enters the fray at No. 4 after handling the Florida Gators on Saturday.

1. Ohio State
2. Miami
3. Indiana
4. Texas A&M

This would likely see Ohio State return to the Rose Bowl for the CFP quarterfinals. Miami would obviously choose homefield advantage at the Orange Bowl, leaving Indiana to choose between the Peach or Cotton Bowls. It has no historic connection to either but it may prefer Atlanta with the shorter distance to travel. That would leave Texas A&M a virtual home game at AT&T Stadium.

At-large bids

Now here's where it would get interesting. Those top four teams would already include three of the presumed Power Four conference champions (Big Ten, ACC and SEC). Since this year straight seeding is the preferred method of selection, spots 5-12 are actually not as simple just ranks 5-12.

The projected Big 12 champion is currently No. 7 Texas Tech which means they are safely into the field. You also need the highest-ranked Group of Five representative which is currently No. 19 South Florida. That means the No. 12 ranked team in the AP poll will miss out on the playoff entirely. Sorry, Georgia Tech fans.

The list for seeds 5-12 would be as follows: (5) Ole Miss, (6) Alabama, (7) Texas Tech, (8) Oregon, (9) Georgia, (10) LSU, (11) Tennessee, (12) South Florida.

Here's how the first round games on campuses would look based on this model:

12 South Florida at 5 Ole Miss
11 Tennessee at 6 Alabama
10 LSU at 7 Texas Tech
9 Georgia at 8 Oregon

With how the 12 qualifiers sort out this week, the Big Ten would get three representatives, the SEC would get a whopping six while the Big 12, ACC and American Athletic would get just one each.