Week 5 of the college football season featured three ranked matchups, with Ohio State earning a big road conference win over Iowa, Missouri shocking the college football world with its 28-point victory against top-10 Florida, and Alabama silencing the cowbells with its dominant 33-point win over Mississippi State. This week we saw big wins, performances that raised some questions and games that came down to the very last play as we take a look at how the postseason picture shifted.
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 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 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.
Source: ESPN General · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing