Michigan is No. 18 in new College Football Playoff rankings

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Michigan football‘s ugly victory over Northwestern last Saturday didn’t seem to change much in the eyes of the College Football Playoff committee.

The Wolverines ranked No. 18 in the third iteration of the CFP rankings released Tuesday, Nov. 18, moving down one spot from last week when they did not play.

Michigan (8-2, 6-1 Big Ten) knocked off the Wildcats 24-22 in thrilling fashion at Wrigley Field in Chicago despite five turnovers. Three in a row came from quarterback Bryce Underwood in an ugly fourth quarter that nearly derailed Michigan’s faint Big Ten title hopes. Dominic Zvada hit a winning field goal as time expired.

Michigan still has time to change where it sits in the CFP. The Wolverines play at Maryland (4-6, 1-6) this Saturday, and a win would set up a massive showdown against rival No. 1 Ohio State (10-0, 7-0).

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With wins in both contests, U-M would be 10-2 with both losses on the road in the first half of the season to ranked teams. A loss would eliminate it from Big Ten and CFP contention.

Here are the CFP rankings with 2 weeks remaining in the regular season.

CFP rankings Top 25

Here are the CFP rankings from Nov. 18. Final rankings will come Dec. 7, one day after conference championship Saturday. The top-12 teams will advance to the CFP.

  • No. 1 Ohio State
  • No. 2 Indiana
  • No. 3 Texas A&M
  • No. 4 Georgia
  • No. 5 Texas Tech
  • No. 6 Ole Miss
  • No. 7 Oregon
  • No. 8 Oklahoma
  • No. 9 Notre Dame
  • No. 10 Alabama
  • No. 11 BYU
  • No. 12 Utah
  • No. 13 Miami (Fla.)
  • No. 14 Vanderbilt
  • No. 15 USC
  • No. 16 Georgia Tech
  • No. 17 Texas
  • No. 18 Michigan
  • No. 19 Virginia
  • No. 20 Tennessee
  • No. 21 Illinois
  • No. 22 Missouri
  • No. 23 Houston
  • No. 24 Tulane
  • No. 25 Arizona State

CFP bracket projection

Here’s what the 12-team field would look like based on Tuesday’s rankings, with Miami moving up as the top ACC team and Tulane as the top Group of Five team.

What is the College Football Playoff schedule?

The seeding process for this year’s CFP has been changed from 2024’s debut season of the 12-team field. Here’s the 2025-26 CFP schedule with dates and everything you need to know.

  • Dec. 7: CFP Selection Show begins at noon on ESPN. First-round byes will be awarded for Nos. 1-4 based on the committee’s rankings from No. 1 to No. 12.
  • Dec. 19-20: First-round games will be played on campus sites with No. 5 hosting No. 12, No. 6 hosting No. 11, No. 7 hosting No. 10 and No. 8 hosting No. 9. One game will be played Dec. 19 at 8 p.m. on ABC and ESPN, followed by a tripleheader Dec. 20 that starts at noon.
  • Dec. 31-Jan. 1: CFP quarterfinals begin the traditional bowl games. The Cotton Bowl is Dec. 31, and the Orange Bowl (Miami Gardens, Florida), Rose Bowl (Pasadena, California) and Sugar Bowl (New Orleans) are on New Year’s Day.
  • Jan. 8-9: CFP semifinal games are the Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, Arizona) on Jan. 8 and Peach Bowl (Atlanta) on Jan. 9.
  • Jan. 19: The CFP championship game is in Miami Gardens, Florida, at Hard Rock Stadium.

Michigan football schedule 2025

Here’s what is left for the Wolverines in the regular season:

  • Week 13, Nov. 22: at Maryland (4-6), 4 p.m., Big Ten Network
  • Week 14, Nov. 29: vs Ohio State (10-0), noon, Fox

Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: CFP rankings place Michigan football at No. 18 on Nov. 18

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