Who will make the 12-team College Football Playoff?
Who will make the 12-team College Football Playoff?. Follow on XMultiple AuthorsEmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsBIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The College Football Playoff's decision to open a 30-day negotiating window with ESPN last week may signal growing interest in a 24-team field, but SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said that expansion is not a foregone conclusion.
What happened
Texas Tech Red RaidersPrevious ranking: 9The Red Raiders admittedly struggled on the road against Oregon State, looking as if they're still rounding into form after last season's Big 12 title run and their College Football Playoff appearance. All times EasternJump to: First-round games | Quarterfinals Semis, title game | Bowl seasonCollege Football PlayoffFirst-round games (at campus sites)Friday, Dec. In a world in which elite college football teams might play as many as 17 games in a season, Ohio State coach Ryan Day has made the decision to slow his offense down as much as humanly possible.
Oklahoma has solved none of last year's issuesOklahoma reached the College Football Playoff thanks in part to a 4-1 record in one-score finishes last season, but that's a pretty unsustainable way of doing your business. Select your favorite contender, make your picks for how its season will play out and see what the Allstate Playoff Predictor foretells. Reportedly, as part of a 24-team playoff, Sankey is seeking a requirement that all teams play at least 10 Power 4 games.
Skip to main content Skip to navigation College football Power Rankings: Everything we learned from the Top 25 in Week 2Ohio State Buckeyes9hESPNWeek 2 bowl projections: How did big wins and tough losses affect the postseason picture?
The wider picture
SMUOhio State Buckeyes3hESPNplayStephen A. takes exception to Ohio State's AP ranking after loss to Texas (1:41)ESPNMultiple AuthorsSep 14, 2026, 07:00 AM ETEmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsWhat did we learn in Week 2 of the 2026 college football season? Meanwhile, several others are quietly readying to make some noise, from a Tennessee team powered by freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon to traditional powers with new leadership this fall between Florida with new head coach Jon Sumrall and Matt Campbell-led Penn State. Here's what our ESPN college football experts learned in Week 2. — Eli Lederman1.
Ole Miss RebelsPrevious ranking: 11While the college football world looked ahead to next week's hotly anticipated matchup with LSU and the return of former head coach Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss went to work at home against Charlotte and took care of business, winning by four touchdowns. Coach Kalen DeBoer hopes a strong second-half comeback "builds belief, builds trust" in his team — and that he can trust his quarterback to take care of the football next week against Florida State. — Scarborough 12.
The Utes' 43-10 win against Arkansas somehow felt even more lopsided than the score indicates, which makes for a compelling argument that the team might be better under new coach Morgan Scalley. Follow on XMultiple AuthorsEmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsYou could say that college football college football'd particularly hard in Week 2. We paint with a broad brush when talking about college football's enormous conferences, and we always lose some nuance by doing so.
What has been reported
Four Touchdowns. @KamarioTaylor ➡️ @AnthonyEvansIII #HailState || 📺: @CBS https://t. co/AAUteQFaRU pic. twitter. com/Vo8LfXiB97— Mississippi State Football (@HailStateFB) September 12, 2026 Let's Go, @frisco_magee! 🙌#HailState || 📺: @CBS https://t. co/mCUZJAhWTq pic. twitter. com/aJ9hebbCK4— Mississippi State Football (@HailStateFB) September 12, 2026 Week 4 is a mammoth affair, featuring four games between ranked teams, including a top-10er in Texas A&M at LSU. They didn't show up in our poll this time around — for good reason, as they likely won't make the postseason — and while there was no consensus overall sleeper team that could go all the way this year, there was agreement on an underdog in each league.
San Diego Padres: 7 votes(Cubs, 4; Atlanta Braves, 2; Arizona Diamondbacks, 1) Not unlike the theory behind why our panel of voters chose the Brewers as the team to beat, the Padres' pitching staff seems like it could be the reason they make a run. Today, Valve is launching its first headset since 2019 — the new Steam Frame — while dodging our questions about whether it’ll ever make another VR game to go with it. Valve says (via spokesperson Kaci Aitchison) that’s because the Steam Frame’s built-in eye-tracking cameras unlock foveated rendering — a technique that gives you full resolution where your eyes are actually looking, instead of wasting computing resources on the parts of the image where you’re not:While we initially didn’t think HL:A running natively on the Steam Frame was likely to be possible, the combination of Foveated Rendering & Eye Tracking turned out to be a silver bullet that enabled us to make it work.
Screenshot by Sean Hollister / The VergeThe company says it took “a year of extra software work within the Vulkan drivers and SteamVR” to make it work, but other developers can now take that work and run with it:The vast majority of that work was not HL:A specific, so it benefits every other game that runs on Steam Frame. Ohio State Buckeyes2dHeather Dinich'Probably should've won by 25': Inside Oklahoma State's upset of OregonOklahoma State Cowboys23mMax OlsonWeek 2 truths: Ohio State's big-game problem; Oregon and Oklahoma still haven't fixed thingsTexas Longhorns23hBill ConnellyWeek 2 AP poll reaction: What's next for each Top 25 teamOhio State Buckeyes1dESPNWetzel: Sports should be a unifier, not a political dividerTexas Longhorns1hDan WetzelProjecting the CFP top 12 after Week 2: How far does Ohio State fall?
Ohio State Buckeyes2dHeather DinichWeek 2's best moments: Arch's defining moment, Michigan's revival and Oregon's downfallOhio State Buckeyes2dKyle BonaguraNFL draft risers, notes off Saturday's college games: Questions at the top of the QB class?
What happens next
There's a media negotiation opportunity, which is an important piece of information, and then we'll have an opportunity, it would appear, later in the fall to make a decision about the future form. Sankey said conference stakeholders met in Birmingham last month to talk about "strategic issues" including the playoff and overall postseason. "You know, I was in College Station and Austin on Saturday. "Sankey didn't engage with the other pressing subject of late: The SEC's decision to sue LSU over its plans to add former NFL players to its football roster.
11 Oklahoma behind a career-high 18 carries and a team-best 87 rushing yards from quarterback Bryce Underwood. Ohio State BuckeyesPrevious ranking: 1The Buckeyes have the best playmaker in the country in wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who through two games has 315 receiving yards. The Longhorns took away Smith in the fourth quarter, and Ohio State couldn't make them pay.
The report has been compiled by The Daily Waves using information reported across espn.com. Details are presented according to the information available at the time of publication and may change as authorities, organisers or other relevant parties provide updates.