Arizona appears in 1st College Football Playoff rankings of 2026 season

The Arizona Wildcats came in at No. 22 in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2026 season.

Arizona (6-2, 3-2 Big 12) makes an appearance in the rankings despite its 34-26 loss to Texas Tech last week. Texas Tech appeared at No. 15 in the rankings.

The loss dropped Arizona to fourth in the conference, behind Utah (8-0, 5-0), BYU (7-1, 4-1), and Texas Tech (7-1, 4-1).

Tuesday’s reveal comes after Arizona appeared at No. 24 in the latest Associated Press’ Top 25 poll.

The Wildcats next face TCU (4-4, 2-3) in Tucson on Saturday.

Utah is the highest-ranked Big 12 team in the College Football Playoff rankings at No. 3, joining BYU (9), Texas Tech (15) and Houston (17) among the five Big 12 squads ranked by the CFP committee.

Utah and BYU are the only Big 12 teams in the 12-team bracket, as this is expected to be the final year of the 12-team format before it expands to 24. 

CFP Top 25 rankings

1. Miami
2. Georgia
3. Utah
4. Indiana
5. Alabama
6. Kentucky
7. Texas
8. UCLA
9. BYU
10. Ole Miss
11. Notre Dame
12. Ohio State
13. Tennessee
14. LSU
15. Texas Tech
16. Wake Forest
17. Houston
18. Missouri
19. Iowa
20. USC
21. South Carolina
22. Arizona
23. Oregon
24. Florida
25. Boise State

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