The first College Football Playoff rankings for the 2025 season will be revealed Tuesday, Nov. 4, starting at 8 p.m. on ESPN.
A lot can change between now and Dec. 7 when the final CFP bracket is revealed, but Tuesday will provide the best barometer yet of where the selection committee sees this year’s contenders.
Of last year’s 12 teams in the first rankings, 10 made the final cut. Only Miami and BYU were left out in the final rankings. Here’s a look at how the rankings shifted:
2024 first CFP rankings vs final rankings
Notes:
Arizona State wasn’t ranked in the Top 25 in the initial CFP rankings last season. But the Sun Devils won six in a row to finish the season, including three ranked wins with a 45-19 Big 12 title game win over Iowa State.
Miami dropped from No. 4 to No. 13. The Hurricanes started 9-0 but lost two of their final three to put pressure on the committee.
BYU began the season 9-0 but was doomed by back-to-back losses to Kansas and Arizona State.
SMU was 8-1 and ranked 13th in the CFP reveal and won three more games before losing 34-31 to Clemson in the ACC Championship game. Miami and SMU didn’t play each other in the regular season, and the committee decided not to penalize the Mustangs for losing a close title game.
When will first 2025 CFP rankings be released?
The first College Football Playoff rankings will be announced between 8-8:45 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 4 on ESPN, which will drop all the CFP rankings.
Keep up with the latest news and analysis from college football’s top two conferences: Check out our Big Ten Hub and our SEC Hub to get school-by-school coverage from across the USA TODAY Network.
