B/R's 2026 College Football Playoff Bracket Projections and Predictions after Week 1

The road to the College Football Playoff has begun.

Headlined by marquee wins for Oregon, LSU and Ole Miss/Louisville, Week 1 provided the first step in the 2026 season's journey for championship hopefuls.

All season, Bleacher Report will be tracking every twist, turn and bend in the CFP race. We'll highlight some impactful results, look ahead to key games and share how the 12-team tournament looks at that moment in time.

The projected bracket is a reflection of B/R's Top 25 dropped into the organization of the official CFP format.

After trailing 17-7 in the first half, Oregon recovered to knock off Boise State. Ultimately, a win is the only detail that matters for the Ducks in the grand scheme of the season. Boise certainly would have preferred to snatch an upset, but a competitive loss to Oregon does not hurt the Broncos' prospective résumé at all.

Uh, holy cow . LSU dropped the hammer on a lifeless Clemson team, racking up 644 offensive yards and surrendering just 145—half of which came on Clemson's garbage-time touchdown drive. LSU looked absolutely stellar.

Entering the halftime break, Ole Miss had a 10-6 lead in a relatively disappointing game. Where were the offenses? Both units exploded in the second half, combining for 63 points in a wild contest. Louisville scored 14 late points to even the score, but Lucas Carneiro drilled a 48-yard field goal as time expired to give Ole Miss an exciting win in Nashville.

1. Ohio State 2. Notre Dame 3. Miami 4. Georgia 5. Texas 6. Indiana 7. Oregon 8. LSU 9. Ole Miss 10. Oklahoma 11. Texas A&M 12. USC 13. Texas Tech 14. Alabama 15. BYU 16. SMU 17. Utah 18. Washington 19. Tennessee 20. Penn State 21. Louisville 22. Iowa 23. Kansas State 24. Houston 25. Missouri

Seeding is a reflection of how B/R's Top 25 would shape the bracket.

Power 4 Champions and Top Group of 6 Team

Given what Lane Kiffin accomplished at Florida Atlantic and Ole Miss, it was fair to expect he'd elevate a slumping LSU program.

Yes, Clemson has become a shell of its former powerhouse self. Years of Dabo Swinney's stubbornness to adapt have caught up with the orange-and-white Tigers, and the purple-and-gold Tigers exposed those issues over and over on Saturday night. That's at least a part of this conversation.

At the same time, Swinney's roster is not devoid of talent. LSU outcoached, outplayed and out-everything-ed Clemson.

LSU will be tested again soon, considering it travels to Ole Miss in Week 3 and welcomes Texas A&M to Death Valley the next Saturday.

But it certainly seems like LSU is a strong CFP contender.

Oklahoma at Michigan Ohio State at Texas

Four of the biggest brands in college football are poised for a pair of rematches. Last year, Ohio State clipped Texas 14-7 and Oklahoma took out Michigan 24-13. By no means did those victories secure CFP trips for OSU or OU, but they certainly helped the résumés later on. We certainly shouldn't be surprised if the same takeaway rings true in 2026.

The opening game on the Big 12 docket's this season features a pesky Arizona squad heading to preseason front-runner BYU. When the programs met in 2025, BYU survived a double-overtime thriller with a 33-27 win. If Arizona wins, it'll be an early twist in both the Big 12 and Playoff races.

The highest-ranked Group of Six team is guaranteed a spot in the CFP. Memphis has already picked up a key victory over UNLV, and knocking off Boise State—on the road, too—would be a tremendous result. Boise, meanwhile, could solidify its billing as a top G6 contender.