While there likely won’t be any changes among the top-seven teams in college football this week, voters will face quite a dilemma when ordering who belongs where around the middle and bottom of the rankings as we head into Week 12 action.
Six ranked teams lost their games this weekend, including one top-ten team whose conference title hopes took a hit, while two ACC hopefuls were upset by unranked foes, and there was another little surprise in the Group of Five.
When will we know what happens? Here’s what you need to know for when the various college football rankings will be released today as we prepare for the Week 12 slate.
When the Top 25 college football rankings are released
First up, the Coaches Poll will be announced at or around 1 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, Nov. 9 after the eligible coaches cast their ballots for the top 25 teams.
From there, the Associated Press will announce its official top 25 rankings at or around 2 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, Nov. 9 after official voters submit their ballots to the AP to be counted.
And then, for the second time in 2025: the official College Football Playoff rankings, set for their release a couple days later, at 7 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, Nov. 11.
Keep in mind, however: much like the football rankings themselves, their scheduled release time isn’t an exact science and may not be exactly right.
These are estimated times and occasionally the ranking services can be early or late, by as much as 15 to 30 minutes every week.
Sometimes, ballots arrive late or there are technical issues in calculating them, but both polls are usually released around the times listed.
Whenever the rankings are released, you can see them in their entirety on College Football HQ On Sports Illustrated.
How the AP top 25 rankings are created
Voters designated by the Associated Press who take part in the poll first create a list of what they consider the 25 best teams in the country.
From there, they assign each team a number of points, awarding the best team the most number of points, which is 25.
They give the second-lowest number to the second-best team, the third-lowest to the third-best team, etc.
The AP then combines the numerical value of each voter’s poll and ranks the teams by number of points in descending order to create the final rankings.
College Football Playoff rankings schedule for 2025
Until now, the weekly college football rankings were confined to those released by the AP top 25 voters and the coaches, but in the days to come, the more consequential College Football Playoff rankings are slated to be revealed by the selection committee.
All times Eastern
CFP rankings release No. 1
Tues., Nov. 4 at 8 p.m.
CFP rankings release No. 2
Tues., Nov. 11 at 7 p.m.
CFP rankings release No. 3
Tues., Nov. 18 at 8:30 p.m.
CFP rankings release No. 4
Tues., Nov. 25 at 7 p.m.
CFP rankings release No. 5
Tues., Dec. 2 at 7 p.m.
Selection Sunday
Sun., Dec. 7 at 12 p.m.
