College Football Playoff Rankings 2025: CFP Odds, Projections & Best Bets by Conference

The first official College Football Playoff rankings of the season will be released by the committee this Tuesday, Nov. 4, at 8 p.m. ET (ESPN) - and with this season being defined by chaos, there's bound to be plenty of changes from the first set of CFP rankings to the final playoff bracket reveal on Sunday, Dec. 7.

While the teams atop the College Football Playoff odds are priced shorter than most value bettors look for, we break down a team from each of the Power Four conferences (and one Group of Five program) to bet on based on their level of play and schedule down the stretch.

📊 Live College Football Playoff odds 2025-26

See the latest College Football Playoff odds, which update in real time.

🧮 Projected CFP rankings: Top 12

The first College Football Playoff rankings will be revealed on Tuesday, Nov. 4, at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. These are my projections for what the committee's first CFP rankings will be ahead of Week 11, along with the best odds for each team make the playoff.

💰 Best CFP bets by conference

🗡️ Big Ten: USC (+700)

• Regular season games remaining: vs. Northwestern, vs. Iowa, at No. 6 Oregon, vs. UCLA
• SP+ ranking: No. 12 (No. 3 offense, No. 43 defense, No. 28 special teams)
• Other Big Ten team to watch: Iowa (+2000 via Caesars)

It's hard to find much value when betting on Big Ten programs with a legitimate chance at the College Football Playoff. Both Ohio State and Indiana have had their odds pulled thanks to the play of Heisman Trophy odds favorites Julian Sayin and Fernando Mendoza, and Oregon's odds (-350) pay just a $2.86 profit on a $10 bet.

However, USC is an interesting team to watch over the last month of the season. The Trojans are hard to gauge with an electric offense and a struggling defense, but Lincoln Riley's team rebounded from its loss to Notre Dame by pulling off a comeback win on the road at Nebraska in Week 10, and it's never easy winning in Memorial Stadium.

If Jayden Maiava and Makai Lemon can continue to carry this team, there's a good chance that USC will be 8-2 when it goes to Oregon on Nov. 22. The Ducks have looked susceptible, and USC's offense is among the best in the country when it's clicking, so the Trojans will definitely have a shot at an upset.

USC is capable of winning its last four games, and it'll be hard to leave Riley's program out of the CFP if the Trojans pull it off. A $10 winning bet on USC pays a $70 profit. 

⚓️ SEC: Vanderbilt (+450)

• Regular season games remaining: vs. Auburn, vs. Kentucky, at No. 23 Tennessee
• SP+ ranking: No. 18 (No. 12 offense, No. 37 defense, No. 7 special teams)
• Other SEC team to watch: Oklahoma (+650 via Caesars)

Similar to the Big Ten, SEC teams litter the top of the college football national championship odds with every team within range of the CFP being priced at ridiculously short odds. Though Vanderbilt is coming off a loss to Texas, the Commodores stand out as the best value in the conference.

The turnaround in Nashville has been incredible, and Vandy's only two losses are to an Alabama team bound for a top-three seed if it wins out and a 3-point loss to the Longhorns on the road. Clark Lea's team has also notched three wins against teams that are or were ranked (South Carolina, LSU, Missouri) and can add another to its resume when it closes the season with Tennessee on Nov. 23.

We've seen Diego Pavia put this team on his back against programs Vanderbilt used to have no shot at beating, and this Volunteers team has not been impressive in recent weeks. It doesn't hurt that the other two teams on Vandy's schedule are Auburn - which just fired Hugh Freeze for losing to SEC doormat Kentucky - and ... Kentucky.

If Lea and Pavia lead Vanderbilt to the CFP, a $10 bet pays a $70 profit.

🔴 Big 12: Utah (+850)

• Regular season games remaining: at Baylor, vs. Kansas State, at Kansas
• SP+ ranking: No. 6 (No. 19 offense, No. 7 defense, No. 49 special teams)
• Other Big 12 team to watch: BYU (+300 via Caesars)

No conference is deeper than the Big 12, which is why I think there's a decent chance it could send two teams to the CFP. One of those teams will likely be Texas Tech, with the roster paid for by billionaire Cody Campbell clearly being the most talented in the conference, but the other team? That's up in the air, to some degree.

Although BYU is undefeated and atop the Big 12 standings, the Cougars haven't looked as good as their record, ranked No. 16 by SP+, and BYU is a double-digit underdog against Texas Tech in Week 11. Meanwhile, both Houston and Cincinnati are coming off tough losses, but the team that handed the Bearcats that loss? It's playing its best football of the season and looks like a different team than the one that lost the Holy War to BYU.

Yes, Utah has already lost to Texas Tech and BYU, but it only lost by three to the Cougars in Provo, and it's blown out every opponent it's beaten - including taking down a ranked Cincinnati team in a 45-14 win in Week 10. With one of the best defenses in the country, a dominant offensive line led by two potential first-round picks (Spencer Fano, Caleb Lomu), and a dynamic QB in Devon Dampier, Utah should finish the regular season 10-2.

That could be enough to get the Utes into the Big 12 Championship, and they might not even need to win it to get into the CFP with how much parity there's been this season. A $10 winning bet on Utah pays an $85 profit.

🐝 ACC: Georgia Tech (+250)

• Regular season games remaining: at Boston College, vs. Pittsburgh, vs. No. 5 Georgia
• SP+ ranking: No. 34 (No. 18 offense, No. 67 defense, No. 19 special teams)
• Other ACC team to watch: Louisville (+250 via Caesars)

There's almost no shot more than one ACC team gets in the College Football Playoff; it's hands-down the worst conference in the Power Four and lacks any elite team. We saw that first-hand in Week 10 when a mid-NC State team beat undefeated Georgia Tech, with CJ Bailey and Duke Scott completely exposing Georgia Tech's defense.

Luckily for Brent Key and Co., Mario Cristobal and Miami went ahead and lost to SMU in OT, effectively ending the Hurricanes as a threat to win the conference. And while you could argue Miami has the most talented team in the ACC, it doesn't really matter now with the Canes having two conference losses.

That leaves just Virginia undefeated in conference play, thanks to the fact that its only loss this season was to NC State ... and you might be thinking, hey, the Wolfpack are in the ACC. Yes, they sure are, but our beautiful sport is also the dumbest sport, and that 35-31 loss on Sept. 6 was a non-conference game against a conference opponent.

So, if the season ended today, we'd get the Cavaliers against the Yellow Jackets in the ACC Championship - and I'm taking Haynes King to will Georgia Tech to a win in that scenario. And as long as Tech takes down a brutal Boston College program and a sporadic Pittsburgh team, the Yellow Jackets will be in the ACC Championship against either Virginia or Louisville.

If they lose to Georgia in the final week, it won't impact them in ACC play, and like I said, no ACC team is going to get in as an at-large anyway. So, bet $10 on Tech to potentially make a $25 profit.

🐅 Group of Five: Memphis (+500)

• Regular season games remaining: vs. Tulane, at East Carolina, vs. Navy
• SP+ ranking: No. 29 (No. 13 offense, No. 62 defense, No. 21 special teams)
• Other G5 team to watch: James Madison (+700 via Caesars)

Unlike last season with Ashton Jeanty carrying Boise State to the College Football Playoff, there's not a clear-cut Group of Five option for the CFP. With that said, there's a good chance the G5 champ the committee selects will come out of the American Conference. James Madison, out of the Sun Belt, is really the only other team with an argument.

Though the team is likely coming out of the American, it's very unclear which team will end up winning the conference. There's an unprecedented amount of talent in the American right now, and six teams have just one loss in conference play. But it seems most likely to be one of Memphis, North Texas, or South Florida - Tulane had an ugly blowout loss to UTSA, and Navy's only quality opponent was North Texas and it really struggled.

So why Memphis? Well, the Tigers beat a South Florida team that hammered North Texas, and it did so despite another Heisman-level performance from Bulls QB Byrum Brown. The Tigers also pulled out the win with star QB Brendon Lewis not being at 100%. In fact, the only reason Memphis has a loss this season is because Lewis got hurt against UAB and couldn't return to the game.

Ryan Silverfield's team has a better offense than South Florida and a better defense than North Texas, and it gets to play both Tulane and Navy at home. The Tigers will likely be favored in each of their final three regular-season games, and if they win those, they'll play for the conference title. If they win the American and are selected for the CFP, a $10 bet pays a $50 profit.