The calendar still reads September, but with each team already a quarter of its way through the schedule, it's not too early to start looking at the College Football Playoff field.
A number of teams have yet to play a power conference opponent - hello, Indiana - so it's tough to get a real read on who is most deserving in the top 12.
The field will look significantly different after conference play, with the SEC and Big Ten champions virtually guaranteed to be 1-2 in the final rankings.
However, that's not where things stand after the early results - instead, it's an SEC party at the top. Here's how we see the top 11 (with at least one team from each power conference) in the CFP picture after three weeks, with our current Group of 6 champion grabbing the final spot.
1. Ole Miss (3-0)
The reward for Ole Miss dispatching its ex, Lane Kiffin, in dramatic fashion Saturday is the top spot in our initial CFP rankings. The Rebels boast the best resume with wins over Louisville and LSU, and Trinidad Chambliss can make a strong argument that he's the best player in the sport. Pete Golding's next challenge might be the toughest of his young head coaching career as he tries to refocus the Rebels for a trip to The Swamp to face unbeaten Florida.
2. Texas (3-0)
Texas sleepwalked through a 30-6 win over UTSA on Saturday, still feeling the hangover from its incredible victory against Ohio State last week. The Longhorns face one of the SEC's hardest road tests next week as undefeated Tennessee looms in raucous Neyland Stadium.
3. Miami (3-0)
It's been three full games and Darian Mensah has somehow racked up more touchdown passes than incompletions. We're going to make a bold statement: If he keeps that up, Miami is heading back to the national title game. The Hurricanes' schedule has been a breeze thus far, and Central Michigan won't give them much trouble. However, their early October trip to Clemson looks slightly more challenging after the Tigers took down North Carolina.
4. Notre Dame (3-0)
Notre Dame is 3-0, has beaten two Big Ten teams, and has outscored its opponents 120-23 on the season. And yet the Fighting Irish's start feels a bit underwhelming. The defense is elite, but the offense is one of just seven in the country that has yet to manage a running play of 20 yards or more. Given how dominant the Fighting Irish's rushing attack has been in recent years, that seems unfathomable. Three of their next four games are on the road, headlined by an Oct. 17 trip to BYU. Marcus Freeman's team will want to dominate that stretch to eliminate any chance of another snub by the CFP committee.
5. Indiana (3-0)
The only thing keeping Indiana from a top-four spot is the fact it's played one of the weakest schedules in the country. That won't change for the next couple of weeks, but an October gauntlet awaits. Trips to Nebraska and Michigan sandwiched around a visit from Ohio State should tell us exactly how good the defending champion Hoosiers are.
6. Georgia (3-0)
Like Indiana, Georgia's been scoring a ton while playing an incredibly weak schedule. The Bulldogs' offense has been electric, putting up their highest points total in the first three games of a season since 1913. That makes this weekend's matchup against one of the nation's best defensive units in Oklahoma extra intriguing.
7. Alabama (3-0)
Keelon Russell is both the future and the present of Alabama football. The explosive quarterback lit up Florida State on the weekend as the offense hung 50 on an overmatched Seminoles defense. Look for him to do the same Saturday against a South Carolina team that just got crushed at home by Mississippi State and Kamario Taylor.
8. Ohio State (2-1)
Do we think seven teams are better than Ohio State right now? Nope, but their resume isn't worthy of a higher spot. That should change in October with three road games against currently ranked opponents: Iowa, Indiana, and USC. If the Buckeyes get through that, they'll be among the top teams on this list.
9. LSU (2-1)
The freshest memory for LSU is defeat, with Kiffin retreating to Baton Rouge after Ole Miss got the last laugh, but the Tigers should still be one of the SEC's best teams. Their 41-point blowout of Clemson to open the season looks even better after Dabo Swinney's team rebounded to beat UNC, and there's no shame in a close road loss to Ole Miss ... unless, of course, your head coach very publicly departed that school in the middle of its last playoff run. Regardless, the Tigers can solidify their playoff qualifications with a home win over Texas A&M on Saturday.
10. USC (4-0)
We don't feel great about this after USC struggled mightily to put away lowly Rutgers on the road Saturday. However, we're willing to chalk that performance up to cross-country travel and a classic lookahead spot with Oregon awaiting this weekend. Also, who else from the Big Ten deserves to be in this spot right now? USC's offense looks great, but plenty of questions still surround the defensive unit - a split that seems very on brand for a Lincoln Riley program. A win over the Ducks this weekend would put the Trojans in a very strong spot to be the Big Ten's third CFP team.
11. BYU (3-0)
After Big 12 title favorite Texas Tech's early displays, we've kicked the Red Raiders to the curb and shifted our focus to BYU. The Cougars have looked solid thus far, and quarterback Bear Bachmeier appears to have made a leap as a passer. The Oct. 17 matchup against Notre Dame gives BYU a chance to post an enormous home win for the committee's consideration.
12. Western Michigan (2-1)
A MAC team has never made the playoff field, but Western Michigan can make a serious case to be the first by handling Boise State at home this weekend. Although the Michigan game is a loss on paper, a large portion of the country still grades that as a Broncos victory - including Boise State coach Spencer Danielson.
Spencer Danielson on Western Michigan: "They're absolutely an undefeated team. They beat Michigan at Michigan."
— Shaun Goodwin (@ShaunBroncoBeat) September 21, 2026
If Western Michigan can run the table, it would be a very popular pick to grab the 12th spot as the lone Group of 6 team.
Projected bracket
Based on our projected rankings above, here's how the playoff matchups would unfold.
Byes
Projected first-round matchups
Projected quarterfinal matchups
The winners of the games involving the No. 1 and No. 4 seeds meet in one national semifinal, while the winners from the games involving the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds meet in the other.
The Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl will serve as the CFP semifinal games.
This season's national title game will be played at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Jan. 25, 2027.
