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College Football Playoff Race Heats Up With Key Games Ahead

Updated 5:13 PM ET · 12:24 PM ETConfirmed

Sports Desk

In Short: As the college football season approaches its final month, the playoff race remains chaotic, with several key games set to determine the College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings and conference championships.

CBS Sports reports that half of the most important games left for Power Four programs in the top 25 fall on the same Saturday — November 7 — including three top-15 matchups within the SEC.

Hottytoddy notes that Saturday's game between two top-10 teams will feature two great quarterbacks, two great defenses, and a plethora of big playmaking receivers, with the result impacting each team's playoff resume.

The lone unbeaten team left in the Big 12, the Utes, would all but punch their ticket into the CFP and Big 12 Championship Game with a victory, according to CBS Sports.

Even with a 10-2 finish and failure to win the conference, CBS Sports believes BYU will have done enough to get into the bracket.

The expansion of the CFP to include 12 teams in 2026 will feature the highest-ranked team from one of the Group of 6 conferences (American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12, or Sun Belt) as the final automatic bid, regardless of whether it won its conference championship.

Mid-tier teams in the conference spent Saturday taking a sledgehammer to their own playoff argument following UCF's stunning upset of No. 4 Ole Miss, according to CBS Sports.

With five top-25 teams entering the weekend, the attention now turns to BYU at Utah in a couple of weeks, with the winner getting a leg up on the rest at the top of the conference.

The undefeated teams are protecting their place in the CFP race, with preseason contenders trying to recover before it's too late and several conference matchups reshaping the picture entirely.

College Football Week 7 featured several high-profile games and upsets, including a historic day where Georgia, Texas, and Alabama all fell on the same day for the first time since 1966, according to FOX Sports.

What this adds

Background

What's confirmed

• CBS Sports reports that half of the most important games left for Power Four programs in the top 25 fall on the same Saturday — November 7 — including three top-15 matchups within the SEC.
• Hottytoddy notes that Saturday's game between two top-10 teams will feature two great quarterbacks, two great defenses, and a plethora of big playmaking receivers, with the result impacting each team's playoff resume.
• The lone unbeaten team left in the Big 12, the Utes, would all but punch their ticket into the CFP and Big 12 Championship Game with a victory, according to CBS Sports.
• Even with a 10-2 finish and failure to win the conference, CBS Sports believes BYU will have done enough to get into the bracket.
• The expansion of the CFP to include 12 teams in 2026 will feature the highest-ranked team from one of the Group of 6 conferences (American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12, or Sun Belt) as the final automatic bid, regardless of whether it won its conference championship.
• Mid-tier teams in the conference spent Saturday taking a sledgehammer to their own playoff argument following UCF's stunning upset of No. 4 Ole Miss, according to CBS Sports.
• With five top-25 teams entering the weekend, the attention now turns to BYU at Utah in a couple of weeks, with the winner getting a leg up on the rest at the top of the conference.
• The undefeated teams are protecting their place in the CFP race, with preseason contenders trying to recover before it's too late and several conference matchups reshaping the picture entirely.
• College Football Week 7 featured several high-profile games and upsets, including a historic day where Georgia, Texas, and Alabama all fell on the same day for the first time since 1966, according to FOX Sports.

What's still developing

• Approaching the season's final month and first College Football Playoff Rankings reveal a week from Tuesday, there's plenty of unsettled conference championship paths within the SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 during a consistently chaotic campaign.
• When that weekend ends, we'll see widespread changes within the CFP Selection Committee rankings that will alter bracket projections entering the final regular-season games.
• “There’s so much on the line just from what the game means in conference play and being a Top 10 matchup,” Golding said at his press conference.
• Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer speaks during a press conference after an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, Sept.
• Just like in 2025, the four highest-ranked teams overall in the final selection committee rankings earn the top four seeds and first-round byes, regardless of whether they won a conference title.
• Here are four takeaways from Week 1: The first full Saturday of college football began, Lane Kiffin stood down on playing the former NFL preseason players at LSU (for now) and we finally got a full Saturday of football.
• The first full Saturday of the college football season is behind us, and we have already had a massive weather delay, an explanation from a power conference on the end-of-game clock and plenty of nail-biters.
• A reporter told Jon Sumrall that Florida was favored at home against No. 4 Ole Miss.
• “Who has us favored against these guys?” Sumrall asked during Florida’s weekly press conference on September 21.
• College football bowl projections: How did big wins and tough losses affect the postseason picture?
• The Pick: Riding a 22-game winning streak and a program-record 19-game home winning streak, Curt Cignetti and the Hoosiers have won or tied the turnover battle in 30 consecutive games.
• Texas State joined the Pac-12 and Louisiana Tech replaced them from Conference USA, keeping the Sun Belt's total at 14.

Sources

• CBS Sportslink
• Foxsportslink
• Warpbeatlink
• Hottytoddylink
• Itemonlinelink
• Silink
• Essentiallysportslink
• Espnlacrosselink
• CBS Sportslink
• 247Sportslink
• Fox Newslink
• Eagletribunelink
• Thebigleadlink
• Thescorelink
• WarpBeat — background on College Football's Final Stretch Heats Up With Key Games Ahead link
• ESPN College Football — video link