Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach Sep 28, 2026, 07:30 AM ET Week 4 brought the chaos with big wins, thrilling finishes and surprising upsets that shifted this week's bowl and playoff projections. Among programs that changed the postseason picture this week was Iowa, which delivered a stunning ending against Michigan and showed that the Big Ten title race is wider open than expected. Florida and Mississippi State gained big conference wins. The Gators enter Week 5 undefeated for the first time since 2019, and Oregon travels back to Eugene with a road victory against USC.

New to the 2026 season, the Power 4 conference champions will get automatic bids to the CFP along with the highest-ranked Group of 6 team regardless of whether it is a league champ. The remaining slots in the 12-team field will go to the next seven highest-ranked teams. Notre Dame is guaranteed a spot in the field if it is among the top-12 teams. The four highest-ranked teams (not necessarily conference champions) will be awarded first-round byes. The other eight teams will meet in first-round games at the campus sites of seeds 5 through 8.

The festivities of bowl season kick off with the Cricket Celebration Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Dec. 12 and wrap up with the CFP National Championship game at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Jan. 25. ESPN bowl gurus Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach will make their predictions for all the postseason matchups every week of the season until the actual matchups are set Dec. 6.

All times Eastern Jump to: First-round games | Quarterfinals Semis, title game | Bowl season College Football Playoff First-round games (at campus sites) Friday, Dec. 18 8 p.m., ESPN Saturday, Dec. 19 Noon, ABC/ESPN 3:30 p.m., TNT 7:30 p.m., TNT. Bonagura: No. 12 Boise State at No. 5 Texas Schlabach: No. 12 Boise State at No. 5 Indiana. Bonagura: No. 11 Ole Miss at No. 6 Ohio State Schlabach: No. 11 Ole Miss at No. 6 Ohio State. Bonagura: No. 10 Utah at No. 7 Alabama Schlabach: No. 10 Iowa at No. 7 Alabama. Bonagura: No. 9 Florida at No. 8 BYU Schlabach: No. 9 BYU at No. 8 Florida.