CFB Multiverse: 2025 CFP Week 4 Preview
ACC
The ACC has had eight teams break the Top 25 in either the AP Poll or CFP Rankings through Week 12 of the College Football season.
Full Term
Miami (FL) has been the conference’s standard bearer so far. They appeared in the AP Top 25 in the preseason and all of the remaining weeks before the CFP Committee released their first list. And the Hurricanes have done a lot of travel up and down the Poll rankings. They hit a peak of #2 on the 5th AP poll of the season tumbled down to a low of #18 in the last Poll before Week 1 of the CFP rankings. They emerged as #18 as well on the Committee’s first list and have actually climbed up to #13 as of the Week 12 list.
Preseason
Clemson and SMU both entered the season ranked in the AP poll but ended up spending very little time there throughout the season. The Tigers landed a #4 ranking in the preseason AP poll but made their last appearance on the second regular season list. They hit #8 then dropped to #12.
SMU only made it onto one regular season AP Poll. They kicked it off in the preseason at #16 and disappeared after their #17 ranking in the season opener. Neither team has showed up on a CFP Committee list through three weeks.
Midseason
Four ACC teams entered the AP Poll at some point between the preseason and the last release before the first CFP ranking.
Georgia Tech is currently the strongest among this group. Tech made it onto the regular season’s fourth AP poll at #18. They steadily rose to high of #7 in the 10th Poll and then #8 before earning the #17 spot on Committee’s first list. They improved to #16 on the second list and remained there on the third list.
Virginia is the second strongest. The Cavalier’s hit a high of #12 and a floor of #24 on the AP Polls. The Committee ranked them at #14, above Georgia Tech, on their first list. But Virginia flipped down to #19 in both the second and third lists.
Louisville ranged between #14 and #19 in the AP Polls. The Committee elevated them to #15 at first, then dropped them to #20. But Louisville was absent from the most recent CFP ranking.
Florida State has been on an especially wild ride in 2025-26. They’ve landed at both the #7 and #25 spots in the AP Poll. But they’ve been left out of the CFP conversation completely.
The Others
Pitt did not appear on an AP Poll before the CFP Committee released their first list. But the Panther nabbed a #24 spot on the first list, improved to #22 on the second list but dropped out of the CFP graces as of this week.
American
Three American conference CFP programs have made it into the big conversations so far.
Full Term
NONE
Preseason
NONE
Midseason
Two American teams entered the AP Poll universe at some point in the regular season. South Florida was the strongest of the two. They hit a high of #18 and a low of #24. The Committee ranked them at #24 on their second list but that has been the only mention of them in the CFP conversation.
Memphis rose to a high of #23 and a low of #25 in the AP Poll and haven’t made it onto a CFP ranking.
The Others
Tulane did not appear on any of the first 11 AP Polls of the 2025-26 season. But the Green Wave managed to grab onto the #24 spot on the Committee’s third list.
Big 12
Nine teams have made their way onto either the AP Poll or CFRP Top 25 through Week 12 of the season.
Full Term
Texas Tech is leading a pretty competitive Big 12 conference. They’ve were on all 11 of the AP Polls leading into the Committee’s first list. They began with a #23 preseason ranking and climbed up to #7 on the 8th list. They dropped to #14 in the AP Poll following a slim 22-26 loss to Arizona State. They got back to #9 before hitting #8 on the first CFP list. The Red Raiders rose to #6 on the second list and are now sitting at #5 in the CFP Top 25.
Midseason
BYU and Utah are the second and third strongest teams from the Big 12.
BYU hit a high of #8 and a floor of #25 in the AP Polls. They entered AP territory on the 5th list of the season. The Committee ranked them at #7 on their first list before dropping to #12 on the second list and #11 on the third list.
Utah ranged between #16 and #25 in the AP Polls. They emerged at #13 on the first AP list and sat there until improving to #12 on the third list.
Houston only made it onto one AP poll during the regular season, at the #22 spot. But the Committee granted them the #23 spot on their most recent Top 25 listing.
Cincinnati spent a total of four weeks on the AP Poll, ranging between #17 and #25. They made an appearance on the second CFP list at #25 but have otherwise been out of the conversation. TCU spent one week on the AP Poll, at #24 but have gotten blanked through three CFP lists.
Preseason
Arizona State hit an AP Poll ceiling of #11 and a floor of #25. The Committee placed them at #35 on their most recent list. Iowa State spent seven weeks in the AP Poll space, ranging between #12 and #22. But the Hawkeyes haven’t made it into the CFP conversation.
Kansas State made the preseason AP Poll at #17 but haven’t been considered any type of a contender since then.
The Others
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Big Ten
Ten teams from the Big Ten conference have made appearances in either the AP Poll or CFP Top 25.
Full Term
Three big time contenders have merged in the Big Ten through Week 12.
Defending National Champion Ohio State is the juggernaut. They entered 2025-26 with a #3 tanking in the preseason AP Poll. The Buckeyes claimed the #1 spot after the first weekend of games and have remained there ever since. The CFP Committee has slated them at #1 for all three of their releases.
Indiana is proving that last season’s success wasn’t a complete fluke. The Hoosier’s landed the #20 spot in the preseason AP Poll but rose to #2 by the 11th release. They’re currently undefeated the Committee has ranked them at #3 in all three of their releases.
The AP Poll has generally favored Oregon more than Indiana but the CFP Committee is not favoring the Ducks as much. Oregon has ranged between #2 and #8 in the AP Polls but they grabbed the #9 spot in the initial CFP Top 25. They’ve risen one spot per release and are now sitting at #7.
Preseason
Michigan is leading the charge among the Big Ten teams who earned a spot on the preseason AP Poll but dropped off at some point. The Wolverines ranged between #14 and #24 across 10 Poll releases. The Committee ranked them at #21 on their first list and then #18 on the subsequent two lists.
Illinois started 2025-26 off with the #12 slot in preseason AP Poll. They tumbled from #9 to #23 between the 5th and 6th releases. They never quite recovered but found themselves at the #21 slot on the third CFP release.
Penn State was the strongest of the group during their time on the AP Poll. They ranged between #2 and #7 across six releases. Their contender status was ruined after the 21-22 loss to Northwestern. They lost three in a row after that and despite a win last week against Michigan State won’t be seeing the CFP top 25 this season.
Midseason
USC ranged between #20 and #25 in the AP Polls across five releases. But they Committee has been showing them increasing favor. They were slotted in at #19 on the first list, #17 on the second list and #15 on the most recent list.
Washington spent one week on the AP Poll, at #24 and worked their way to #23 on the first CFP list. That was their only appearance so far this season, though. Nebraska spent one week on the AP Poll at #25 but hasn’t registered as a blip on the CFP radar.
The Others
Iowa is one of the conference and overall sport’s 2025-26 anomalies. They had not broken the AP Top 25 before the first CFP list but somehow grabbed the #20 spot. The committee ranked them at #21 in their second release but dropped them out of the picture in week 3.
Independent
Full Term
Notre Dame entered things with a #6 ranking in the preseason AP Poll. They fell all the way down to #24 by the fourth release before clawing their way back up to #10 in the list preceding the CFP’s first look. They’ve remined pretty squarely in the middle of the pack as the extremes of the field have shifted. They were listed at #10 in the initial committee list but have been sitting at #9 in the two most recent lists.
Preseason
NONE
Midseason
NONE
The Others
NONE
Mountain West
Full Term
NONE
Preseason
Boise State brought up the tail end of the preseason AP Poll at #25. And they haven’t’ been mentioned in the contender conversation again.
Midseason
NONE
The Other
NONE
SEC
Full Term
Texas A&M is the SEC’s most promising contender through Week 12. The Aggies ranged between #3 and #19 in the AP Polls but have earned the #3 slot in all the CFP Top 25 lists so far. Ole Miss began with a preseason #21 ranking and were sitting at #7 on the 11th list. They were #6 on the first CFP list, #7 on the second list and back up to #6 on the third CFP Top 25.
The Georgia Bulldogs started the season at #5, took some dips, but were slotted at #5 going into the CFP’s first release. The Committee placed them at #5 in their first two releases before elevating them to #4 in the most recent release.
Oklahoma has ranged between #5 and #18 in the AP Polls and the Committee initially ranked them at #12. They’ve risen to #8 as of the most recent release, though.
Alabama started 2025-26 with the #8 spot on the AP Poll but hit #21 on the Week poll. They sat at #4 for three weeks heading into the CFP Committee’s first release. The Crimson Tide were ranked at #4 on the first two CFP Top 25 lists before making another tumble, this time to #10.
Tennessee ranged between #11 and #24 in the AP Polls and has been risen progressively from #25 to #20 in the CFP Top 25.
Preseason
Texas was ranked #1 in the preseason AP Poll but hit a floor of #22. The Committee ranked them at #11 on their first list and #10 on the second list. But they suffered a 10-35 defeat at the hands of Georgia last week and have fallen to #17.
LSU ranged between #3 and #20 across nine AP Polls.
Florida ranged between #13 and #15 across two AP Polls.
South Carolina ranged between #10 and #13 across three AP Polls.
Midseason
Vanderbilt spent eight weeks on the AP Polls, ranging between #9 and #20. They hit #15 on the 11th list and the Committee gave them an initial #16 ranking. They’ve sat at #14 in the subsequent two Top 25 releases.
Missouri ranged between #14 and #22 across nine AP Polls heading into the first CFP top 25 release. The Committee ranked them at #22 on their first list, omitted them from the second and put them back at the #22 spot on the most recent list.
The Auburn Tigers ranged between #22 and #24 across two AP Polls and haven’t appeared on a CFP Top 25 list.
The Others
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