Ranking The Five Biggest Storylines For The First Round Of The 2026 College Football Playoff

The 2025 College Football Playoff begins Friday evening as Alabama seeks revenge for a regular-season loss to Oklahoma in the opening game of the first round.

That will be followed by three more games on Saturday, including two involving overwhelming favorites, and a third with plenty of question marks.

Unlike a year ago, the first round of this year’s CFP feels packed with intriguing storylines, and we’re counting down the top ones.

2025 College Football Playoff Storylines

Four teams – Indiana, Ohio State, Georgia, and Texas Tech – have earned the right to sit back and kick their feet up this weekend as they await their quarterfinal opponents.

Meanwhile, the other eight will be fighting for their playoff lives and national championship hopes. Last season, both national champion Ohio State and runner-up Notre Dame reached the championship game despite having to fight through an extra round.

Will it be the same this time around? Changes to the setup of the bracket say probably not. But we’ll likely know far more by midnight on Saturday evening.

What should you be paying attention to during this weekend’s games? We’re here to tell you.

5) Can Either Group Of 5 Team Upset The Apple Cart

For the first time (and likely last time, if the power conferences have anything to say about it) in College Football Playoff history, not one but two Group of 5 teams reached the postseason: Tulane and James Madison.

However, both enter their opening round games against Ole Miss and Oregon, respectively, as sizable underdogs. The Green Wave head to Oxford as 17.5-point underdogs after losing to the Rebels, 45-10, earlier in the season.

The Dukes, meanwhile, are 21.5-point underdogs in Eugene.

Both teams also enter the College Football Playoff knowing that their head coaches are bound for new homes next season, with Jon Sumrall taking the Florida Gators job and Bob Chesney headed to UCLA.

Some of college football’s biggest voices have made their feelings clear: these teams don’t belong.

Can either Tulane or Ole Miss prove those voices wrong?

4) How Does Ole Miss Look Without Lane Kiffin

When Lane Kiffin left the Ole Miss Rebels high and dry to become the new head coach at LSU, one question was common among members of the college football media: “Why leave a program already contending for a national championship for a program that could contend for a national championship?”

The simple answer to that, of course, would be that Kiffin didn’t believe his Ole Miss could truly compete for a national title.

Well, now we get a chance to find out.

Former defensive coordinator Pete Golding now leads the Rebs into battle, while offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. will continue to call plays until Ole Miss is either eliminated or wins it all. Then he, too, is headed to Baton Rouge.

We know what Ole Miss looked like against Tulane with Kiffin in charge. Will they look as good without the former boy genius at the helm?

3) How Will Oregon Handle Its Shifting Coaching Staff

A year ago, the Oregon Ducks entered the College Football Playoff as the top overall seed. And yet they went crashing out in the quarterfinals after a 41-21 blowout loss to Ohio State.

This time around, the Ducks have the technically more difficult round, having to play an opening-round game as the No. 5 seed.

However, as we mentioned above, they’ll enter the first round as a huge favorite over James Madison, and if they win, they’d likely be favored over Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl as well.

Despite those facts, things aren’t all perfect for Oregon. The Ducks lost both offensive coordinator Will Stein (Kentucky) and defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi (Cal) to head coaching jobs in the last month.

While both coaches are remaining in Eugene throughout Oregon’s playoff run, it’s tough to imagine the impending moves aren’t at least a slight detriment to the Ducks’ hopes of winning it all.

2) Will Miami Validate The Committee’s Decision To Knock Out Notre Dame

The Miami Hurricanes began the 2025 college football season with an impressive 27-24 victory over Notre Dame. One week later, the Fighting Irish lost to Texas A&M in South Bend, 41-40.

Those two results ultimately made the difference between Notre Dame being in the playoff as the final at-large selection and the Hurricanes jumping over them at the last possible second.

That decision has drawn plenty of backlash in Notre Dame circles, with athletic director Pete Bevacqua throwing an incredibly public pity party.

Now the ‘Canes have the opportunity to put the debate to bed if they can go into College Station and walk out with a victory. However, if they lose, especially if they do so by a large margin, the cries from Notre Dame fans will be as loud as ever.

1) What Does A Healthy Alabama Crimson Tide Look Like Against Oklahoma?

Earlier this season, the Oklahoma Sooners walked into Bryant-Denny Stadium against Alabama and walked out as 23-21 victors, buoying their College Football Playoff hopes and ultimately providing the boost the Sooners needed to get into.

However, the score wasn’t entirely indicative of how the game went.

Alabama outgained Oklahoma 406-212. It had 23 first downs compared to 12 for the Sooners, and the Tide ran 75 offensive plays, while Oklahoma ran just 51.

Despite that fact, the Sooners walked out with the win thanks, in large part, to a 3-0 win in the turnover battle and an Alabama missed field goal.

Oklahoma now walks into the rematch, which is in the friendly confines of Memorial Stadium, as a 1.5-point favorite. But the Crimson Tide will get a number of players back from injury, including starting running back Jam Miller. Will things look different for Bama this time around?

And if so, what will the result look like?