It's time to start seriously discussing the College Football Playoff.

The arrival of November means the College Football Playoff selection committee's rankings are here. Tuesday night, we'll get the first set of CFP rankings and an initial chance to see what the committee is thinking.

That thinking will seemingly change from week to week. Consistency can be hard to come by. But given our years of seeing how the CFP has evaluated teams in the four and now 12-team playoff formats, here's our best guess at how the rankings will look on Nov. 3.

Highest Group of Six team: Boise State (6-1)

With James Madison's two-game losing streak and a morass of teams in the American Conference, the Broncos look poised to get their second CFP berth in three years. Boise's biggest challenger looks like Oregon State at the moment. But November could bring a surprise or two.

12. Ole Miss (6-2)

Ole Miss fans shouldn't be worried where the team is in Tuesday night's rankings. Next week's game against Georgia will quickly render it irrelevant. The Rebels are in the playoff with a 4-0 finish to the season and could even sneak in at 9-3 overall if things break their way.

11. Texas (6-2)

The Longhorns are ahead of Ole Miss thanks to that head-to-head win, and that win over Ohio State still holds weight. Games at Missouri and LSU over the next two weeks will be huge for the Longhorns' hopes. They might be able to afford a single loss over the rest of the season. But this is a team that was 9-3 and missed the College Football Playoff a year ago.

10. Kentucky (7-1)

Kentucky's résumé is a great litmus test. There's no doubt that the Wildcats have been one of the best teams in the SEC this season. But just how do you view Kentucky's schedule? Wins over Oklahoma and Texas A&M aren't nearly as impressive as they once looked and that Alabama loss was a blowout. But like Ole Miss fans, Kentucky fans shouldn't get worked up at where the Wildcats are on Tuesday night. Games against Tennessee, Florida and Missouri will sort things out over the course of November.

9. Ohio State (7-2)

Are the Buckeyes real title contenders at this point? We're not so sure. It was always going to be a tough ask with a freshman quarterback making his first career start at USC, but the Ohio State defense gave up nearly 7 yards a play to a USC team that had minus-17 rushing yards a week ago. Can this version of Ohio State go 4-0 in November against Northwestern, Oregon, Nebraska and Michigan?

8. Alabama (6-2)

We think the Tide will be ahead of Kentucky because of that head-to-head win and it helps that the Tide's two losses are to two teams in the top 20 of the AP poll. It wouldn't be a shock if Alabama was behind the Wildcats and at No. 10 on Tuesday night, but a win over LSU in Week 10 will go a long way toward showing how good this team actually is.

7. UCLA (8-0)

Two things can be true at the same time: The turnaround that Bob Chesney is engineering at UCLA is probably the best coaching job in the country. And it's also hard to take this team seriously as a national title contender, especially with QB Nico Iamaleava sidelined for the rest of the season. UCLA's best wins are over Wisconsin and Oregon. Both are struggling and the Ducks turned the ball over seven times in the Bruins' two-point win. We think the committee is going to significantly ding UCLA's strength of schedule given the way it's previously evaluated top-tier teams.

6. Notre Dame (7-1)

The head-to-head principle applies here. It's hard to put Notre Dame ahead of BYU since the Cougars beat the Irish even if Notre Dame should have received one last shot at the end zone. The Irish overpowered Navy in the second half on Saturday and will be much closer to No. 1 with a win over Miami in Week 10.

5. BYU (7-1)

The Cougars did what they needed to do in a win over Arizona State on Saturday ahead of a massive game against Utah. Can you tell Week 10 is going to be really, really good? BYU is at risk of missing the Big 12 title game with a loss to the Utes, however. Texas Tech is lurking with a manageable schedule. The Red Raiders aren't as good as they were a season ago, but avoid both BYU and Utah in Big 12 play.

4. Indiana (8-1)

The Hoosiers' offense has been a rough watch recently. Indiana hasn't scored more than 20 points in each of its last four games and Curt Cignetti switched quarterbacks at halftime of its overtime win over Minnesota after Josh Hoover took a big hit at the end of the first half. Hoover doesn't look 100% since he appeared to get injured in the second half against Ohio State. How will the committee factor that in? This is still a team with an elite defense, though the special teams are looking very shaky.

3. Utah (8-0)

Utah appears to be a more complete team than Indiana at this point, and we think the lack of a loss puts the Utes ahead of the Hoosiers. Saturday's trip to Cincinnati had all the makings of a trap after a big win over Houston and the Holy War looming. Instead, Utah made easy work of the Bearcats in a 49-25 win.

2. Georgia (7-1)

The Bulldogs ended their rivalry game with Florida before halftime. The Gators were overwhelmed by Georgia in the first half as it was clear that the Bulldogs are the best team in the SEC despite that blip against Auburn two weeks ago. Had Georgia beaten Auburn, we think the Bulldogs would be No. 1 Tuesday night.

1. Miami (8-0)

The Hurricanes have two of the top three Heisman favorites in the country in QB Darian Mensah and WR Malachi Toney and an offense that looks to be the best in the country. The Hurricanes got a scare from North Carolina on Saturday, but Mensah threw for 274 yards and three scores while Toney caught two of them and Mark Fletcher rushed for two more. Who else can't wait for next Saturday night and the Hurricanes' trip to Notre Dame?

Here are the rest of this week's winners and losers.

Winners

Sacramento State: The Hornets got their first win over an FBS team as an FBS team in a 31-10 win over Kent State on Friday night. Sac State made the jump to the top level of college football in the offseason and joined the MAC. The conference affiliation has led to a lot of cross-country travel for both the Hornets and their midwestern opponents. Friday night, Isaiah Ene rushed for 107 yards and two TDs on 19 carries as the Sacramento State defense forced five turnovers.

Oregon: Given the way the 2026 season has gone, you could understand if Oregon folded after No. 20 Northwestern took a 20-6 lead with less than two minutes to go in the first half. Instead, the Ducks outscored the Wildcats 21-6 in the second half on the way to a 34-26 win. Dylan Raiola had his best game of the season as he was 22-of-31 passing for 336 yards and three touchdowns, and RB Brandon Smith rushed eight times for 82 yards and a score.

Clemson: The Tigers went into Tallahassee and put Florida State further into its feelings with a 36-24 win. Tait Reynolds threw two touchdown passes and ran for another as he had the best game of his young career. Entering Saturday night, Reynolds had thrown just one TD all season. The Clemson defense held FSU to 65 rushing yards and forced four turnovers thanks to three Ashton Daniels interceptions.

Utah: The No. 6 Utes made sure that Cincinnati was not going to knock off an undefeated team for the second straight week. Utah scored 42 first-half points in a 49-25 demolition of the Bearcats. Devon Dampier threw three touchdowns and Utah rushed for 268 yards on just 42 carries. The Utes scored TDs on each of their four offensive possessions of the first half, Rabbit Evans returned a fumble for 51 yards and a TD, and Elijah Davis had a 39-yard pick-6 before the game was even at halftime.

Losers

James Madison: The Dukes have now lost back-to-back games in overtime after a 7-0 start. James Madison fell 24-21 at home to Troy on Thursday night thanks to five turnovers and a costly decision to not kick a field goal in overtime.

Justin Powe intercepted JMU QBs Camden Coleman and JC Evans three times, and receivers Michael Scott and Jeremiah Harrison each fumbled. JMU still had a chance to win the game in regulation, but its drive as the fourth quarter expired ended at the Troy 37-yard line.

In overtime, Billy Napier chose to go for it on fourth-and-1 at the Troy 5-yard line, but Seth Cromwell got stuffed. From there, Troy only needed a field goal for the win.

Nebraska: The Huskers have now lost three straight games after a 17-10 defeat at home to Washington. Is it a coincidence that the three-game losing streak to Indiana, Oregon and now Washington comes after the first five wins of the season were against Ohio, Bowling Green, North Dakota, Michigan State and Maryland? We'll let you decide on that one. The Huskers travel to Illinois on Friday night and then to Rutgers before games against Ohio State and Iowa. An 8-4 season is still on the table.

Oklahoma: The Sooners cannot string two wins together. OU has now alternated wins and losses through its first eight games of the season after a 42-25 home loss to a resurgent South Carolina team. The Oklahoma defense has been one of the best in the country and had three interceptions. Yet South Carolina had over 500 yards of total offense as LaNorris Sellers threw for 301 yards on just 24 pass attempts while John Mateer had just 244 on 43 throws.

Sam Houston: The Bearkats are in the market for a new head coach after a 24-3 loss to Missouri State on Tuesday. The loss dropped Sam Houston to 1-7 overall and 0-4 in Conference USA. And on Wednesday, Phil Longo was fired. Longo won just three games since he was hired ahead of the 2025 season to replace KC Keeler. Eric Raisbeck and Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay will serve as the co-interim coaches for the rest of the season as Sam Houston learns that going from FCS powerhouse to competitive Group of Six team is a pretty tall task.

Source: Yahoo Sports