Ohio State Debuts at No. 1 in the First College Football Playoff Rankings of the 2025 Season

Already the top-ranked team in the AP Poll and Coaches Poll, Ohio State debuted at No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season.

The Buckeyes are ahead of Indiana, Texas A&M, Alabama and Georgia in the top five. The rest of the top 12 consists of Ole Miss, BYU, Texas Tech, Oregon, Notre Dame, Texas and Oklahoma.

1. Ohio State (8-0)
2. Indiana (8-0)
3. Texas A&M (8-0)
4. Alabama (7-1)
5. Georgia (7-1)
6. Ole Miss (8-1)
7. BYU (8-0)
8. Texas Tech (8-1)
9. Oregon (7-1)
10. Notre Dame (6-2)
11. Texas (7-2)
12. Oklahoma (7-2)
13. Utah (7-2)
14. Virginia (8-1)
15. Louisville (7-1)
16. Vanderbilt (7-2)
17. Georgia Tech (8-1)
18. Miami (6-2)
19. USC (6-2)
20. Iowa (6-2)
21. Michigan (7-2)
22. Missouri (6-2)
23. Washington (6-2)
24. Pitt (7-2)
25. Tennessee (6-3)

If the season ended today, Ohio State would be slated to face the winner of a first-round game between No. 8 Texas Tech and No. 9 Oregon in the quarterfinals.

THE FIRST 12-TEAM CFP BRACKET PROJECTION OF THE SEASON

The committee selected Memphis as the best team from the remaining conferences. pic.twitter.com/EU6NCc33Ds

— ESPN (@espn) November 5, 2025

Ohio State is 8-0 after 10 weeks of the 2025 college football season. The Buckeyes opened their season with a 14-7 win over No. 11 Texas, then ripped off wins over Grambling State, Ohio, No. 23 Washington, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin and Penn State. The last of those victories occurred this past weekend, a 38-14 win over the Nittany Lions.

Mack Rhoades walks @ReceDavis through the committees decisions following the first CFP Top 25 rankings reveal pic.twitter.com/mVK0StQqiE

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) November 5, 2025

The Buckeyes are ranked No. 1 in both the AP Poll and Coaches Poll. They are also No. 1 in Bill Connelly's SP+ and ESPN's College Football Power Index. The latter metric states that Ohio State has the No. 3 strength of record behind Texas A&M and Indiana, and the No. 33 strength of schedule in the FBS. The team's remaining schedule — which includes Purdue, UCLA, Rutgers and No. 21 Michigan — ranks No. 43 in the sport.