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

How every College Football Playoff ranking since 2014 compares from first Top 25 poll to last originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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

Ranking	First CFP Poll	Final CFP Poll
1	Mississippi State	Alabama
2	Florida State	Oregon
3	Auburn	Florida State
4	Ole Miss	Ohio State
5	Oregon	Baylor
6	Alabama	Texas Christian
7	TCU	Mississippi State
8	Michigan State	Michigan State
9	Kansas State	Ole Miss
10	Notre Dame	Arizona
11	Georgia	Kansas State
12	Arizona	Georgia Tech
13	Baylor	Georgia
14	Arizona State	UCLA
15	Nebraska	Arizona State
16	Ohio State	Missouri
17	Utah	Clemson
18	Oklahoma	Wisconsin
19	LSU	Auburn
20	West Virginia	Boise State
21	Clemson	Louisville
22	UCLA	Utah
23	East Carolina	LSU
24	Duke	USC
25	Louisville	Minnesota

*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

Ranking	First CFP Poll	Final CFP Poll
1	Clemson	Clemson
2	LSU	Alabama
3	Ohio State	Michigan State
4	Alabama	Oklahoma
5	Notre Dame	Iowa
6	Baylor	Stanford
7	Michigan State	Ohio State
8	TCU	Notre Dame
9	Iowa	Florida State
10	Florida	North Carolina
11	Stanford	TCU
12	Utah	Ole Miss
13	Memphis	Northwestern
14	Oklahoma State	Michigan
15	Oklahoma	Oregon
16	Florida State	Oklahoma State
17	Michigan	Baylor
18	Ole Miss	Houston
19	Texas A&M	Florida
20	Mississippi State	LSU
21	Northwestern	Navy
22	Temple	Utah
23	UCLA	Tennessee
24	Toledo	Temple
25	Houston	USC

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

Ranking	First CFP Poll	Final CFP Poll
1	Alabama	Alabama
2	Clemson	Clemson
3	Michigan	Ohio State
4	Texas A&M	Washington
5	Washington	Penn State
6	Ohio State	Michigan
7	Louisville	Oklahoma
8	Wisconsin	Wisconsin
9	Auburn	USC
10	Nebraska	Colorado
11	Florida	Florida State
12	Penn State	Oklahoma State
13	LSU	Louisville
14	Oklahoma	Auburn
15	Colorado	Western Michigan
16	Utah	West Virginia
17	Baylor	Florida
18	Oklahoma State	Stanford
19	Virginia Tech	Utah
20	West Virginia	LSU
21	North Carolina	Tennessee
22	Florida State	Virginia Tech
23	Western Michigan	Pitt
24	Boise State	Temple
25	Washington State	Navy

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

Ranking	First CFP Poll	Final CFP Poll
1	Georgia	Clemson
2	Alabama	Oklahoma
3	Notre Dame	Georgia
4	Clemson	Alabama
5	Oklahoma	Ohio State
6	Ohio State	Wisconsin
7	Penn State	Auburn
8	TCU	USC
9	Wisconsin	Penn State
10	Miami	Miami
11	Oklahoma State	Washington
12	Washington	UCF
13	Virginia Tech	Stanford
14	Auburn	Notre Dame
15	Iowa State	TCU
16	Mississippi State	Michigan State
17	USC	LSU
18	UCF	Washington State
19	LSU	Oklahoma State
20	NC State	Memphis
21	Stanford	Northwestern
22	Arizona	Virginia Tech
23	Memphis	Mississippi State
24	Michigan State	N.C. State
25	Washington State	Boise State

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

Ranking	First CFP Poll	Final CFP Poll
1	Alabama	Alabama
2	Clemson	Clemson
3	LSU	Notre Dame
4	Notre Dame	Oklahoma
5	Michigan	Georgia
6	Georgia	Ohio State
7	Oklahoma	Michigan
8	Washington State	UCF
9	Kentucky	Washington
10	Ohio State	Florida
11	Florida	LSU
12	UCF	Penn State
13	West Virginia	Washington State
14	Penn State	Kentucky
15	Utah	Texas
16	Iowa	West Virginia
17	Texas	Utah
18	Mississippi State	Mississippi State
19	Syracuse	Texas A&M
20	Texas A&M	Syracuse
21	NC State	Fresno State
22	Boston College	Northwestern
23	Fresno State	Missouri
24	Iowa State	Iowa State
25	Virginia	Boise State

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

Ranking	First CFP Poll	Final CFP Poll
1	Ohio State	LSU
2	LSU	Ohio State
3	Alabama	Clemson
4	Penn State	Oklahoma
5	Clemson	Georgia
6	Georgia	Oregon
7	Oregon	Baylor
8	Utah	Wisconsin
9	Oklahoma	Florida
10	Florida	Penn State
11	Auburn	Utah
12	Baylor	Auburn
13	Wisconsin	Alabama
14	Michigan	Michigan
15	Notre Dame	Notre Dame
16	Kansas State	Iowa
17	Minnesota	Memphis
18	Iowa	Minnesota
19	Wake Forest	Boise State
20	Cincinnati	App State
21	Memphis	Cincinnati
22	Boise State	USC
23	Oklahoma State	Navy
24	Navy	Virginia
25	SMU	Oklahoma State

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

Ranking	First CFP Poll	Final CFP Poll
1	Alabama	Alabama
2	Notre Dame	Clemson
3	Clemson	Ohio State
4	Ohio State	Notre Dame
5	Texas A&M	Texas A&M
6	Florida	Oklahoma
7	Cincinnati	Florida
8	Northwestern	Cincinnati
9	Georgia	Georgia
10	Miami	Iowa State
11	Oklahoma	Indiana
12	Indiana	Coastal Carolina
13	Iowa State	North Carolina
14	BYU	Northwestern
15	Oregon	Iowa
16	Wisconsin	BYU
17	Texas	USC
18	USC	Miami
19	North Carolina	Louisiana
20	Coastal Carolina	Texas
21	Marshall	Oklahoma State
22	Auburn	San Jose State
23	Oklahoma State	NC State
24	Iowa	Tulsa
25	Tulsa	Oregon

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

Ranking	First CFP Poll	Final CFP Poll
1	Georgia	Alabama
2	Alabama	Michigan
3	Michigan State	Georgia
4	Oregon	Cincinnati
5	Ohio State	Notre Dame
6	Cincinnati	Ohio State
7	Michigan	Baylor
8	Oklahoma	Ole Miss
9	Wake Forest	Oklahoma State
10	Notre Dame	Michigan State
11	Oklahoma State	Utah
12	Baylor	Pitt
13	Auburn	BYU
14	Texas A&M	Oregon
15	BYU	Iowa
16	Ole Miss	Oklahoma
17	Mississippi State	Wake Forest
18	Kentucky	NC State
19	NC State	Clemson
20	Minnesota	Houston
21	Wisconsin	Arkansas
22	Iowa	Kentucky
23	Fresno State	Louisiana
24	San Diego State	San Diego State
25	Pitt	Texas A&M

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

Ranking	First CFP Poll	Final CFP Poll
1	Tennessee	Georgia
2	Ohio State	Michigan
3	Georgia	TCU
4	Clemson	Ohio State
5	Michigan	Alabama
6	Alabama	Tennessee
7	TCU	Clemson
8	Oregon	Utah
9	USC	Kansas State
10	LSU	USC
11	Ole Miss	Penn State
12	UCLA	Washington
13	Kansas State	Florida State
14	Utah	Oregon State
15	Penn State	Oregon
16	Illinois	Tulane
17	North Carolina	LSU
18	Oklahoma State	UCLA
19	Tulane	South Carolina
20	Syracuse	Texas
21	Wake Forest	Notre Dame
22	NC State	Mississippi State
23	Oregon State	NC State
24	Texas	Troy
25	UCF	UTSA

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

Ranking	First CFP Poll	Final CFP Poll
1	Ohio State	Michigan
2	Georgia	Washington
3	Michigan	Texas
4	Florida State	Alabama
5	Washington	Florida State
6	Oregon	Georgia
7	Texas	Ohio State
8	Alabama	Oregon
9	Oklahoma	Missouri
10	Ole Miss	Penn State
11	Penn State	Ole Miss
12	Missouri	Oklahoma
13	Louisville	LSU
14	LSU	Arizona
15	Notre Dame	Louisville
16	Oregon State	Notre Dame
17	Tennessee	Iowa
18	Utah	NC State
19	UCLA	Oregon State
20	USC	Oklahoma State
21	Kansas	Tennessee
22	Oklahoma State	Clemson
23	Kansas State	Liberty
24	Tulane	SMU
25	Air Force	Kansas State

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

Ranking	First CFP Poll	Final CFP Poll
1	Oregon	Oregon(No. 1 seed)
2	Ohio State	Georgia (No. 2 seed)
3	Georgia	Texas (No. 5 seed)
4	Miami	Penn State (No. 6 seed)
5	Texas	Notre Dame (No. 7 seed)
6	Penn State	Ohio State (No. 8 seed)
7	Tennessee	Tennessee (No. 9 seed)
8	Indiana	Indiana (No. 10 seed)
9	BYU	Boise State (No. 3 seed)
10	Notre Dame	SMU (No. 11 seed)
11	Alabama	Alabama
12	Boise State	Arizona State (No. 4 seed)
13	SMU	Miami
14	Texas A&M	Ole Miss
15	LSU	South Carolina
16	Ole Miss	Clemson (No. 12 seed)
17	Iowa State	BYU
18	Pittsburgh	Iowa State
19	Kansas State	Missouri
20	Colorado	Illinois
21	Washington State	Syracuse
22	Louisville	Army
23	Clemson	Colorado
24	Missouri	UNLV
25	Army	Memphis

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.

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