The 2025-26 College Football Playoff is just one week from being decided. Teams that earned a berth to their respective conference championships will do battle for automatic bids into the 12-team bracket (Power Four only) while the rest of the field will eagerly wait for their names to be called once the dust settles.
However, first we as fans get to see how the CFP Selection Committee views the teams in the running for postseason inclusion. Tuesday night's rankings reveal will be the penultimate edition ahead of the official bracket unveiling and teams sitting on the bubble will essentially get a glimpse of their fate. The likes of Ole Miss, Texas and Miami will be watching intently.
3 debates that will define the championship week CFP rankings
Should Ole Miss be dropped from hosting a first-round game because of Lane Kiffin's departure?
The Rebels completed the regular season 11-1 for the first time in program history but received the unfortunate news just 24 hours later that head coach Lane Kiffin had decided to accept the gig at LSU for next year. That prompted the athletic director to send Kiffin on his way to Baton Rouge early and deny him from coaching Ole Miss in the CFP.
Without Kiffin at the helm, one could argue Ole Miss is a completely different team and an unproven enough product that doesn't deserve a No. 7 ranking or higher. Detractors are likely to point to the committee's stance on undefeated Florida State in 2023 after losing quarterback Jordan Travis to a season-ending injury. The Seminoles were left out of the playoff entirely despite their body of work prior to losing Travis. Is Ole Miss subject to the same scrutiny without its head coach?
Should the committee drop Miami out of the Top 12 despite winning in Week 14?
The Hurricanes entered Week 14 at No. 12 in the rankings and technically 'in' the bracket as the highest-ranked ACC team, but its path to the conference title game was convoluted and eventually never panned out. Miami defeated No. 22 Pittsburgh 38-7 but can it remain the highest-ranked ACC team if its not competing for the conference title nor if it doesn't have a real chance at making the playoff?
The No. 18 Virginia Cavaliers have an opportunity to jump up a few spots and be positioned to represent the conference if they defeat Duke this weekend. But could the committee dramatically flip things so that Virginia is ranked ahead of Miami and the Hurricanes dropped down despite a win? The committee has seemingly painted itself into the same corner it did last year where Miami was ranked higher than SMU entering the final week of regular season play. They had an excuse to drop Miami because it lost on that final weekend. Now they're set to anger a hungry fanbase.
Is Texas deserving of being positioned on the bubble awaiting chaos?
The No. 16 Longhorns pulled off their best win of the year, toppling No. 3 Texas A&M during rivalry week. Texas still has three losses and could be entitled to a big enough boost in the rankings to be positioned on the bubble (No. 11-14). But will it deserve such positioning?
No. 14 Vanderbilt has only two losses and four ranked wins compared to Texas' three (including a head-to-head over the Commodores). Would the committee really consider the victory over A&M worth that much more to put the Longhorns over top Vanderbilt and provide them an opportunity to benefit from any championship week chaos? One could claim it's SEC bias over other potential candidates but the debate seems to come down to the numbers and eye test.