College Football Playoff predictions: Who’s most likely to make the field

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Oregon Ducks vs. Iowa Hawkeyes: Full Highlights (1:32)

Oregon Ducks vs. Iowa Hawkeyes: Full Highlights (1:32)

ESPN staffNov 8, 2025, 11:15 PM ET

After the reveal of the first College Football Playoff rankings, the top teams knew where they stood in the pecking order. Some of those top contenders found themselves in tough battles to stay in the CFP conversation.

The Indiana Hoosiers, ranked No. 2 in the initial rankings, and the Oregon Ducks, ranked No. 9, both went on the road for conference games. Neither had an easy time.

Indiana was sitting on a 20-10 lead in the fourth quarter against the Penn State Nittany Lions when things got crazy. A Penn State scoring drive followed by a Fernando Mendoza interception and another quick score from Nittany Lions had the Hoosiers looking at their first loss. But Mendoza had some late heroics left and found Omar Cooper Jr. for the game-winning score (and one of the best catches of the year) in the 27-24 win.

In awful weather, Oregon fell behind late to the Iowa Hawkeyes and had to drive the field with less than two minutes to kick the game-winning field in the 18-16 game.

Facing the LSU Tigers, in their first game since the firing of Brian Kelly, the Alabama Crimson Tide forced two turnovers and held LSU under 300 total yards. In the 20-9 win, Tide QB Ty Simpson threw for 277 yards and a touchdown.

Here are our experts’ top 12 College Football Playoff picks:

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Andrea Adelson: 1. Ohio State 2. Indiana 3. Texas A&M 4. Alabama 5. Georgia 6. Ole Miss 7. Texas Tech 8. Oregon 9. Notre Dame 10. BYU 11. Georgia Tech 12. North Texas

Kyle Bonagura: 1. Ohio State 2. Indiana 3. Texas A&M 4. Alabama 5. Georgia 6. Texas Tech 7. Oregon 8. Ole Miss 9. Notre Dame 10. BYU 11. Georgia Tech 12. North Texas

Bill Connelly: 1. Ohio State 2. Indiana 3. Texas A&M 4. Alabama 5. Texas Tech 6. Georgia 7. Ole Miss 8. Oregon 9. Notre Dame 10. BYU 11. Georgia Tech 12. North Texas

David Hale: 1. Ohio State 2. Texas A&M 3. Indiana 4. Alabama 5. Georgia 6. Texas Tech 7. Ole Miss 8. Oregon 9. Notre Dame 10. Texas 11. James Madison 12. North Texas

Eli Lederman: 1. Ohio State 2. Texas A&M 3. Indiana 4. Alabama 5. Georgia 6. Ole Miss 7. Oregon 8. Texas Tech 9. Notre Dame 10. Georgia Tech 11. BYU 12. North Texas

Max Olson: 1. Ohio State 2. Texas A&M 3. Indiana 4. Alabama 5. Georgia 6. Texas Tech 7. Ole Miss 8. Oregon 9. Notre Dame 10. BYU 11. Georgia Tech 12. North Texas

Adam Rittenberg: 1. Ohio State 2. Indiana 3. Texas A&M 4. Alabama 5. Georgia 6. Ole Miss 7. Texas Tech 8. Oregon 9. Notre Dame 10. BYU 11. Pittsburgh 12. South Florida

Mark Schlabach: 1. Ohio State 2. Texas A&M 3. Indiana 4. Alabama 5. Georgia 6. Ole Miss 7. Texas Tech 8. Oregon 9. Notre Dame 10. BYU 11. Pittsburgh 12. Tulane

Jake Trotter: 1. Ohio State 2. Indiana 3. Texas A&M 4. Alabama 5. Georgia 6. Texas Tech 7. Ole Miss 8. Oregon 9. Notre Dame 10. Texas 11. Pittsburgh 12. Tulane

Paolo Uggetti: 1.Ohio State 2. Texas A&M 3. Indiana 4. Texas Tech 5. Alabama 6. Georgia 7. Oregon 8. Ole Miss 9. Notre Dame 10. BYU 11. Pittsburgh 12. Tulane

Dave Wilson: 1. Ohio State 2. Texas A&M 3. Indiana 4. Alabama 5. Georgia 6. Ole Miss 7. Texas Tech 8. Oregon 9. Notre Dame 10. BYU 11. Georgia Tech 12. North Texas