Where Michigan stands in latest College Football Playoff rankings following fourth-straight win

The Michigan Wolverines are the No. 18 team in the country in the latest College Football Playoff rankings released heading into Week 13. The spot is the same as last week after debuting in the first batch of rankings at No. 21 two weeks ago.

Michigan currently sits at 8-2 (6-1 Big Ten) on the season after a 24-22 last-second win over Northwestern on Saturday at Wrigley Field in the north side of Chicago. The group is riding a four-game win streak with victories over Washington, at Michigan State, Purdue and the Wildcats.

The Wolverines are one of six Big Ten teams listed in the third rankings, joined by Ohio State (No. 1), Indiana (No. 2), Oregon (No. 7), USC (No. 15) and Illinois (No. 21).

U-M has lost to two teams ranked in the top 25: Oklahoma (No. 8) and USC. It plays OSU at home to end the regular season.

Michigan is the eighth-highest ranked two-loss team, and there’s a three-loss program — Texas (No. 17) — ranked ahead, too. The two-loss teams higher than Michigan are No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 9 Notre Dame, No. 10 Alabama, No. 12 Utah, No. 13 Miami (FL), No. 14 Vanderbilt and No. 15 USC.

From here through Selection Sunday on Dec. 7, the committee will update the rankings each Tuesday night. Michigan has a chance to stay in the fight over the last few games of the season with Maryland up next. Should it get to 9-2, it has a chance to punch a ticket, or at least make its case, with a win over Ohio State on Nov. 29.

Here is how the committee ranked the teams heading into the Week 13 slate of games.

Where Michigan sits in the third College Football Playoff rankings

1. Ohio State
2. Indiana
3. Texas A&M
4. Georgia
5. Texas Tech
6. Mississippi
7. Oregon
8. Oklahoma
9. Notre Dame
10. Alabama
11. BYU
12. Utah
13. Miami (FL)
14. Vanderbilt
15. Southern California
16. Georgia Tech
17. Texas
18. Michigan
19. Virginia
20. Tennessee
21. Illinois
22. Missouri
23. Houston
24. Tulane
25. Arizona State

The College Football Playoff is a 12-team field for the second season in a row, but with a format change. Instead of auto-byes for the four highest-ranked conference champions, the committee will give byes to the four best teams regardless of championship weekend. Seeds 5-12 will play games on campus sites on Dec. 19-20. The quarterfinals will be held at the Rose Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl, while the semifinals at the Peach Bowl and Fiesta Bowl. The national championship game is set for Jan. 19, 2026 from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida.

The five highest-ranked conference champions will still make the field, but the teams will be seeded 1 through 12 accordingly, with no re-seeding.