There was a big shake-up in the latest version of the College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday night, where the committee had to adjust things after No. 1 Tennessee, No. 4 Clemson, and No. 6 Alabama all went down in upset fashion.
This cleared the way for the Oregon Ducks to move up in the rankings, where they now sit at No. 6.
While the rankings aren’t finalized, of course, and there will still be a ton of movement in the coming weeks, they offer a good roadmap for where teams stand, and what needs to happen for the final four schools to be solidified at the top.
Related: How the CFP committee, explained Oregon’s No. 6 ranking
As was the case last week as well, we wanted to look at things through a different lens. With the knowledge that the playoff will be expanding to 12 teams in 2026, and potentially sooner, we broke down what the matchups would look like in a 12-team playoff bracket, and what the Ducks’ path to a national championship would look like, assuming that they were able to win all of their games leading up to the final showdown.
Please note that we are advancing Oregon through each round by default, and not predicting that they would win each matchup in reality.
For the other games not including the Ducks, we are going to advance the higher-seeded team as the victor. Remember, that under a 12-team model, the field would be made up of six conference champions ranked highest by the committee, with no minimum ranking requirement, and the six highest-ranked teams not among the conference champions. The four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded Nos. 1 through 4 and will receive a first-round bye.
Here’s what Oregon’s theoretical path would look like, along with the rest of the playoff picture: