Is There SEC Bias in the College Football Playoff Rankings?

A little, about as much as the Big Ten. Tuesday's ranking looked like proof of SEC bias. Over 12 seasons, the committee has lifted SEC teams less than half a spot above the AP poll, about the same as Big Ten teams.

CFP rankings · Updated Nov. 4, 2026Includes committee rankings through Nov. 3, 2026

Tuesday looked like proof: 9 of 10 SEC teams moved up

On Tuesday, Nov. 3, the College Football Playoff committee released its opening top 25 of 2026. Ten of the 25 teams are from the SEC.

To see whether the committee favored them, we compared its ranking with the AP poll from two days earlier. Both count the same games. If the AP had a team at #10 and the committee put it at #8, the committee ranked it 2 spots higher.

The committee put 9 of the 10 SEC teams above their AP spot. Georgia stayed at #2, and none moved down. That's the most in any CFP ranking. The old high was 6, in 2015.

Alabama moved up the most. The AP had the Crimson Tide at #9. The committee put them at #5.

That's a 6-2 team. On Nov. 3, Alabama sat eight spots above the Tennessee team that beat it, 26-10.

Texas, also 6-2, went from #10 in the AP to #7. Both now sit ahead of 8-0 UCLA.

Together, the 10 SEC teams sat 19 spots higher than in the AP. That's the most in any CFP ranking, partly because the SEC had more teams to move.

Notre Dame fell the most, from #4 in the AP to #11. Its drop opened a spot for every team that passed it.

Most of the SEC moves were small: 6 of the 9 were 1 or 2 spots. And it's one week.

Over 12 seasons, the committee lifted the SEC about as much as the Big Ten

We lined up the AP poll, team by team, for 71 committee rankings from 2014 to 2025.

From 2014 through 2025, the committee ranked SEC teams 0.43 spots higher than the AP poll did, on average. It ranked Big Ten teams 0.45 spots higher. That's less than half a spot for both.

The SEC got the biggest lift of the five power conferences in only 2 of 12 seasons. ACC teams got the most lift overall. In the 12-team playoff era, 2024 and 2025, the committee ranked SEC teams right where the AP did.

One exception stands out: 2023. The committee put 12-1 Alabama in its final top 4. It left out 13-0 Florida State, which the AP had in its top 4.

The SEC does come out ahead in two cuts. It finished above the Big Ten in 8 of 12 seasons. And in opening rankings, the SEC and the ACC have gotten the most lift. This year's opening lift per SEC team is the second biggest since 2014.

So why does it feel rigged? Two-loss SEC teams stay ranked

Here's the pattern fans notice. Since 2021, ranked SEC teams have stayed in the AP poll after a second loss 72% of the time.

Ranked teams from the other power conferences and Notre Dame stayed 55% of the time. The gap mostly disappears once team strength is counted, so treat it as a lead. It doesn't prove a bias.

This year shows one reason. Eight of the 13 teams in the Nov. 1 AP poll with 2 or more losses are SEC teams. Every one of their losses came against another SEC team.

Outside the league, SEC teams are 11-2 this season against the other power conferences, the rebuilt Pac-12 and independents. The Big Ten is 10-10 against the same kinds of opponents.

And the AP's lean toward the SEC is small once you account for team strength. We compared teams with the same record and schedule. SEC teams sat about 1.7 spots higher than Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC teams, though the likely range runs from 0 to 3.5.

Once we counted how good the teams are, the SEC's edge was less than a spot either way, too small to tell from zero.

When the AP ranked an SEC team below a ranked team from another conference, the SEC team still won 22 of 46. In games with no SEC team, the lower-ranked team won about a third of the time. Forty-six games is too few to be sure, but it doesn't point to the AP overrating SEC teams.

The Group of Five sat lower in 67 of 71 rankings

Rankings are close to zero-sum. When one team moves up, another moves down.

Over 12 seasons, nearly all the lift the power conferences got came out of Group of Five teams and independents like Notre Dame.

Group of Five teams sat lower in the committee's ranking than in the AP's in 67 of 71 rankings. That's the clearest gap in the data. It's also the gap fans argue about least.

On the field, SEC teams went 14-4 in the four-team playoff and 3-6 since

The four-team years had more SEC lift and a better SEC record. From 2014 to 2023, the committee ranked SEC teams a bit above the AP. In the playoff, SEC teams went 14-4 against other conferences and won 6 of the 10 titles.

In the 12-team playoff, the lift went away. In 2024 and 2025, SEC teams went 3-6 against other conferences and didn't reach a title game.

Georgia, the committee's #2 in 2024, lost to #5 Notre Dame, 23-10. Ole Miss lost its 2025 semifinal to #10 Miami, 31-27.

That's about 27 games across both eras, too few to settle anything. Favorites have struggled across the board, too. In the 12-team playoff, the higher-ranked team has won only half its games.

What to Watch Before Selection Sunday, Dec. 6

The committee's next ranking comes Tuesday, Nov. 10. Put it next to the AP poll from two days earlier.

Our call: the committee moves 6 or fewer SEC teams above their AP spot. Before this week, it never moved more than 6.

Also watch 8-0 UCLA. If the committee keeps it behind 6-2 Alabama and Texas, the argument gets louder.

Think the committee has it wrong? Make your own Top 25 and see the playoff it builds.

RankCFB is an independent college football site where you rank your own Top 25, see the 12-team playoff it makes, and compare it with other fans, the CFP rankings and the AP poll.

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