How every College Football Playoff ranking since 2014 compares from first Top 25 poll to last

The first College Football Playoff rankings of 2025 are set to be revealed Tuesday evening. While several teams, including Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M and Alabama, are expected to be in the initial 12-team field, it’s still unclear where the committee will rank each team.

This season marks just the second year of the expanded 12-team format, but the playoff itself has been around since 2014. Back when it featured only four teams, the initial top four often looked different from the final four.

Here’s a look back at how every first playoff ranking from 2014 through 2024 compared with the final playoff field.

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College Football Playoff rankings history

2014

*bolded teams indicate teams that ultimately made CFP field

Two Mississippi schools ranked in the first-ever College Football Playoff? What a time it was in 2014. When the first playoff rankings dropped that year, both Mississippi State and Ole Miss were undefeated. The Bulldogs had defeated three straight top-10 teams -- LSU, Texas A&M and Auburn. Auburn was ranked No. 2 in the nation when Mississippi State beat the Tigers 38-23 at home.

Ole Miss was also unbeaten, having beaten the likes of Alabama and Texas A&M. But as you can see from the final rankings, things looked quite different in the end. Mississippi State wound up losing to Alabama and Ole Miss, knocking the Bulldogs out of playoff contention. The Rebels lost to LSU and Auburn in Weeks 8 and 9.

As for the rest of the final four-team field, consisting of Alabama, Oregon, Florida State and Ohio State, there was a bit of controversy. All four teams had won their respective conference championship games, with the Buckeyes beating Wisconsin 59-0 on championship Saturday.

The committee gave a bid to the Buckeyes over 11-1 TCU and Baylor. That’s because the Big 12 was the lone Power Five conference without a title game, using the final standings to determine its champion. At the time, the conference had 10 teams, so every Big 12 school played each other. The conference named Baylor and TCU, who both finished 8-1 in league play, as co-champions, despite Baylor beating TCU earlier in the season.

Still, the committee felt Ohio State dismantling an 11-2 Wisconsin team on championship Saturday was more impressive than TCU and Baylor finishing as co-champions.

The Big 12 adopted a title game in 2017 due to this situation. 

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2015

The 2015 season didn’t have as much drama, as both Clemson and Alabama were in the initial top four. Both went on to win the ACC and SEC respectively. But there was a big drop from LSU, which fell from inside the top four to No. 20 on Selection Sunday. The Tigers lost three straight to Alabama, Arkansas and Ole Miss before the regular season ended. Michigan State won the Big Ten with a 16-13 win over Iowa, and Oklahoma safely earned a bid as 11-1 Big 12 champion — no co-champions this time.

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2016

Like the year before, both Alabama and Clemson made it into the final top four as SEC and ACC champions. But Texas A&M went from an initial No. 4 ranking to unranked by Selection Sunday. The Aggies started the season with wins over ranked opponents UCLA, Arkansas and Tennessee. Although they lost 33-6 to No. 1 Alabama on Oct. 22, Texas A&M was still ranked inside the top four. But the Aggies lost four of their last five games to drop out of the rankings entirely.

No. 3 Michigan remained inside the top four, but its 30-27 loss to Ohio State knocked the Wolverines out. Coincidentally, the Buckeyes made the playoff despite not playing in the Big Ten title game. The committee put the 11-1 Buckeyes in over Big Ten champion Penn State, which had two losses. Washington finished 12-1 and won the Pac-12 in 2016.

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2017

In 2017, three of the initial top four teams made it into the final field: Georgia, Alabama and Clemson. Although Notre Dame was ranked third in the initial rankings, the Irish fell to No. 14 on Selection Sunday. Notre Dame had wins over ranked opponents such as USC and North Carolina State, with a 20-19 loss to No. 1 Georgia.

The Irish then lost their final two games to ranked opponents, falling 41-8 at No. 7 Miami and 38-20 at No. 20 Stanford. Georgia earned a bid after defeating Auburn 28-7 in the SEC title game. Alabama earned a bid after finishing 12-1, with its lone loss to Auburn in the Iron Bowl, which sent the Tigers to the SEC title game instead of the Tide. Clemson and Oklahoma were both 12-1 conference champions who earned bids.

2018

The initial CFP rankings often at least slightly resemble the final field. Usually, at least one or two teams ranked in the initial top four make it in. Over the years, the committee appears to have improved at evaluating which teams are legitimate contenders.

In 2018, three teams from the initial top four earned bids: Alabama, Clemson and Notre Dame. Oklahoma, ranked No. 7 in the initial Oct. 30 rankings, earned the No. 4 spot after winning the Big 12. LSU, initially ranked third by the committee, finished 11th. The Tigers started the season with three top-10 wins over Miami, Auburn and Georgia, but losses to Alabama and Texas A&M left them 9-3 at the end of the regular season.

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2019

In 2019, Ohio State and LSU were both in the initial top four and the final rankings. The committee was close on Clemson, which was fifth initially before finishing third as ACC champions.

There was a large jump to the No. 4 spot, which went to Oklahoma. The Sooners had initially checked in at ninth, sitting at 7-1 with a road loss to unranked Kansas State. Led by quarterback Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma won its next five games, including victories over ranked opponents Baylor and Oklahoma State. The Sooners beat Baylor 30-23 in the Big 12 title game to earn the fourth spot.

Alabama, third in the initial rankings, dropped to 13th after losses to both LSU and Auburn in the regular season. Penn State fell to 10th after initially checking in at fourth, as the Nittany Lions lost to Minnesota and Ohio State during the season.

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2020

College football’s COVID year was unusual, with many teams playing shorter schedules. Some even had to forfeit games due to outbreaks among players and coaches. Despite the disruptions, the CFP rankings continued.

This year was especially unique, as all four teams ranked inside the initial top four ultimately earned bids: Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Notre Dame.

Alabama finished No. 1 at 11-0 as SEC champions, defeating Florida 52-46 in a thrilling SEC title game. Clemson was ranked No. 2 after going 10-1 and winning the ACC. Ohio State played just six games, as did every Big Ten team that season. The Buckeyes went 6-0, including a Big Ten title game victory over Northwestern. Notre Dame earned the No. 4 spot. The Irish, playing in the ACC that season, finished 10-1 with a loss to Clemson in the ACC Championship Game.

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2021

The 2021 initial rankings were somewhat unpredictable in terms of which teams from the first top four made it into the playoff. That year, only Georgia and Alabama from the initial top four earned bids. The other two teams that made the playoff — Michigan and Cincinnati — were ranked seventh and sixth, respectively.

Cincinnati made history as the first-ever non-Power Five school to earn a CFP bid. The Bearcats benefited from a regular-season victory over Notre Dame and an undefeated record. They finished as one of only two undefeated teams in the nation that season, along with Georgia. Michigan vaulted into the top four after defeating No. 2 Ohio State in the final week of the regular season, which sent the Wolverines to the Big Ten title game.

The other two teams from the initial top four, Michigan State and Oregon, finished 10th and 14th, respectively.

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2022

During the 2022 season, the CFP announced that it would be expanding to 12 teams, starting in 2024. Although the four-team playoff seemed to work well, both the money and demand was there to expand the field. Not to mention the fact that there were multiple quality two-loss teams who failed to reach the playoff. 

2022's initial rankings had just a couple teams end up in the final four, in Ohio State and Georgia. Tennessee, checked in at No. 1 in the first rankings after starting out the season 8-0 with ranked wins over Pitt, Florida, LSU and a 52-49 win over No. 3 Alabama, as well as a win over No. 19 Kentucky. The Vols finished the season 10-2, losing to Georgia and South Carolina.

Clemson was also ranked inside the initial top-four at No. 4, undefeated through the first eight weeks of the year. But the Tigers lost to Syracuse and South Carolina in the regular season, which knocked Clemson out of the playoff even before the ACC title game. Clemson beat UNC 39-10 in that game, but its two losses caused it to miss out on a bid. 

Ohio State earned a bid, finishing 11-1 with a loss to Michigan which kept the Bucks out of the Big Ten title game. Georgia got a bid as the SEC champion. TCU earned a bid after finishing 12-1. 

2023

The last year of the four-team playoff was the most dramatic of them all, a fitting end to the original playoff system. The lone top-four team remaining in the final rankings was Michigan, which finished as Big Ten champions and a perfect 13-0. The Wolverines upset Ohio State 30-24 to knock the Buckeyes out of both the Big Ten title game and playoff. 

Washington was also 13-0, and won the Pac-12, which safely earned it a bid. Texas, playing in their final year in the Big 12, won the conference and was 12-1. The drama from this year's playoff field centered around Florida State and Alabama. 

Florida State was having a huge season, led by star quarterback Jordan Travis. The Noles were undefeated all season, but during a Week 11 game against FCS North Alabama, Travis tragically suffered a gruesome season-ending leg injury.

The Noles proceeded to defeat rival Florida and Louisville 16-6 in the ACC title game, but the offense looked nowhere near as explosive with Travis' backup Brock Glenn under center. In the end, the committee gave a bid to 12-1 Alabama over undefeated Florida State. Citing the loss of their star quarterback, paired with the Tide snapping Georgia's 29-game win streak in their 27-24 victory in the SEC title game. 

Florida State ended up losing 63-3 to Georgia in the Orange Bowl, so the committee looked justified in its decision in the end. The 12-team playoff rankings are unique, in that the rankings do not match the final 12-team seeding for the field. 

2024

In the first year of the expanded 12-team playoff, questions about how the new system would work were everywhere. In 2024, 10 of the final 12 teams in the playoff were in the initial rankings.

Some of the loudest debates centered on Indiana and SMU earning bids while Alabama and Miami were left out. Indiana received its bid after a historic 11-1 season, with its only loss coming to fellow playoff team Ohio State.

SMU went 11-2 and played in the ACC title game in its first season in the conference. The Mustangs nearly overcame a 31-14 third-quarter deficit, ultimately falling 34-31. Miami missed the playoff after regular-season losses to Georgia Tech and Syracuse kept the Hurricanes out of the ACC title game. Alabama was also left out after finishing 9-3, including a 24-3 loss at Oklahoma.