College Football Playoff resume rankings: Big 12 pushing for multiple bids in 2026 bracket

BYU's upset of Notre Dame vaults the Cougars to No. 1 and bolsters the league's case for more than one representative in the 12-team field

Oct 22, 2026 at 9:54 am ET • 4 min read

The Big 12's chances of sending two teams to the College Football Playoff received a significant boost during the mayhem of Week 7, as BYU earned the league's most valuable nonconference victory of the season by toppling Notre Dame.

BYU's big win enhances the possibility that the Cougars could make the 12-team field as an at-large team alongside the eventual winner of the Big 12 Championship Game. If BYU wins it, the runner-up could also have a good case for inclusion, especially if that runner-up is a 12-1 Texas Tech team. The league's collective strength is illustrated in this week's resume rankings.

The Big 12, Big Ten and SEC each have three teams in the top 10. The ACC has one (Miami), while Notre Dame comes in at No. 11.

There are just four teams in college football with four victories over teams ranked inside the top 65 of the CBS Sports 138. Two are from the SEC (Alabama and Kentucky), and two are from the Big 12 (BYU and Houston). Of the five remaining unbeaten teams in Power Four leagues, three are from the Big 12 (BYU, Texas Tech and Utah).

BYU is also one of just six teams with two wins over top-25 teams, joining four from the SEC (Alabama, Texas, Florida and Ole Miss) and one from the Big Ten (Ohio State). The Buckeyes and Longhorns are the only teams with two victories over top-15 teams.

CBS Sports 138: Miami tops Ohio State, BYU for No. 1 spot in college football rankings

Chip Patterson

Here's where things stand in a meritocratic resume ranking entering Week 7. Game values are assigned based on the likelihood that the "average" No. 25 ranked team would win the game. Specifically, they are determined by your opponent's ranking in the CBS Sports 138 and the game's location.

This formula is simple. It includes nothing like postgame win expectancy, preseason bias, success rate or margin of victory. It's about wins, losses and locations. Period. 

One of the beauties of this system is how it presents a total view of a resume. Instead of reducing the conversation merely to a team's best two wins and its losses, it takes the full 12-game slate into account and recognizes that a team with several victories over mid-tier competition in the 26-50 range has accomplished more than a team with similar high-end victories but an easier overall path.

College Football Playoff Resume Rankings

1	BYU
W vs. Utah Tech (+0.01) W vs. No. 22 Arizona (+0.48) W @ No. 118 Colorado State (+0.06) W @ No. 50 TCU (+0.31) W vs. No. 57 Iowa State (+0.18) W vs. No. 5 Notre Dame (+0.81) Resume score: 1.85
2
W vs. No. 133 Ball State (+0.01) L @ No. 20 Texas (-0.38) W vs. No. 131 Kent State (+0.02) W vs. No. 63 Illinois (+0.16) W @ No. 14 Iowa (+0.71) W vs. No. 107 Maryland (+0.05) W @ No. 6 Indiana (+0.87) Resume score: 1.44
3	Alabama
W vs. No. 91 East Carolina (+0.08) W @ No. 13 Kentucky (+0.73) W vs. No. 64 Florida State (+0.15) W vs. No. 43 South Carolina (+0.26) W @ No. 25 Mississippi State (+0.54) L vs. No. 4 Georgia (-0.16) L @ No. 10 Tennessee (-0.21) Resume score: 1.39
4	Kentucky
W vs. Youngstown State (+0.01) L vs. No. 12 Alabama (-0.33) W @ No. 56 Texas A&M (+0.28) W vs. No. 93 South Alabama (+0.08) W @ No. 43 South Carolina (+0.36) W vs. No. 18 LSU (+0.56) W @ No. 40 Oklahoma (+0.38) Resume score: 1.34
5	Texas Tech
W vs. Abilene Christian (+0.01) W @ No. 33 Oregon State (+0.44) W vs. No. 16 Houston (+0.59) W vs. No. 130 Sam Houston (+0.02) W @ No. 92 Colorado (+0.13) W vs. No. 71 Arizona State (+0.14) Resume score: 1.33
6	Miami (Fla.)
W @ No. 116 Stanford (+0.07) W vs. Florida A&M (+0.01) W @ No. 15 Wake Forest (+0.70) W vs. No. 119 Central Michigan (+0.03) W @ No. 45 Clemson (+0.34) W vs. No. 64 Florida State (+0.15) Resume score: 1.30
7	UCLA
W @ No. 84 California (+0.16) W vs. No. 97 San Diego State (+0.07) W vs. No. 82 Purdue (+0.11) W @ No. 107 Maryland (+0.09) W @ No. 31 Oregon (+0.46) W vs. No. 32 Wisconsin (+0.35) Resume score: 1.24
8	Indiana
W vs. No. 59 North Texas (+0.17) W vs. Howard (+0.01) W vs. No. 125 Western Kentucky (+0.02) W vs. No. 19 Northwestern (+0.54) W @ No. 104 Rutgers (+0.10) W @ No. 29 Nebraska (+0.48) L vs. No. 2 Ohio State (-0.11) Resume score: 1.21
9	Houston
W vs. No. 33 Oregon State (+0.34) W vs. Southern (+0.01) L @ No. 9 Texas Tech (-0.19) W @ No. 98 Georgia Southern (+0.11) W vs. No. 55 UCF (+0.19) W @ No. 47 Kansas State (+0.33) W vs. No. 26 Oklahoma State (+0.41) Resume score: 1.20
10	Ole Miss
W vs. No. 39 Louisville (+0.35) W vs. No. 136 Charlotte (+0.01) W vs. No. 18 LSU (+0.56) L @ No. 24 Florida (-0.44) W @ No. 88 Vanderbilt (+0.15) W vs. No. 23 Missouri (+0.47) Resume score: 1.10
11	Notre Dame
W vs. No. 32 Wisconsin (+0.41) W vs. No. 129 Rice (+0.02) W vs. No. 99 Michigan State (+0.06) W @ No. 82 Purdue (+0.17) W @ No. 36 North Carolina (+0.41) W vs. No. 116 Stanford (+0.03) L @ No. 3 BYU (-0.07) Resume score: 1.03
12	Tennessee
W vs. Furman (+0.01) W @ No. 76 Georgia Tech (+0.19) W vs. No. 123 Kennesaw State (+0.02) L vs. No. 20 Texas (-0.48) W vs. No. 30 Auburn (+0.37) W @ No. 81 Arkansas (+0.17) W vs. No. 12 Alabama (+0.67) Resume score: 0.95
13	Wake Forest
W vs. No. 132 Akron (+0.01) W @ No. 82 Purdue (+0.17) L vs. No. 1 Miami (-0.08) W @ No. 39 Louisville (+0.39) W vs. No. 116 Stanford (+0.03) W @ No. 74 NC State (+0.20) W @ No. 84 California (+0.16) Resume score: 0.88
14	Texas
W vs. No. 77 Texas State (+0.12) W vs. No. 2 Ohio State (+0.89) W vs. No. 41 UTSA (+0.28) W @ No. 10 Tennessee (+0.79) L vs. No. 40 Oklahoma (-0.66) L vs. No. 24 Florida (-0.55) Resume score: 0.87
15	Florida
W vs. No. 86 FAU (+0.10) W vs. Campbell (+0.01) W @ No. 30 Auburn (+0.47) W vs. No. 8 Ole Miss (+0.75) L @ No. 23 Missouri (-0.42) L vs. No. 43 South Carolina (-0.74) W @ No. 20 Texas (+0.62) Resume score: 0.79