The College Football Playoffs will feature 12 teams once again in 2025, and that means your favorite college football team has a better chance than in previous seasons of making the cut. But where do the initial rankings say that the best schools in the nation are ranked? The first College Football Playoff Rankings show of the season will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. It’s the first in a series of rankings shows that will air before the final CFP roster is confirmed, and we encourage viewers to watch with a subscription to Sling TV.

How to watch College Football Playoff Rankings shows

• When: Starting Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 8 p.m. ET
• TV: ESPN
• Stream: Watch with a subscription to Sling TV.
• From anywhere: Watch with a subscription to a VPN.

Everything you need to know about College Football Playoff Rankings shows

When do College Football Playoff Ranking shows air?

The first College Football Playoff Rankings show will air on Tuesday, Nov. 4, at 8 p.m. ET. Subsequent Tuesdays will see rankings shows drop at different times, but all of these shows will be broadcast on ESPN.

Why do we recommend watching College Football Playoff Rankings shows on Sling TV?

Sling TV is a college football fan’s best friend for the rest of the 2025 season, including the playoff ranking shows as well as the games themselves. Viewers can watch any premier college football games in the regular season or playoffs that appear on ESPN channels with a Sling Orange subscription.

Sling Orange carries ESPN, as well as ESPN2 and ESPN3, the latter of which simulcasts live sporting events appearing on ABC. It also carries TNT, which has sublicensed a package of CFP games from ESPN and will share broadcasting responsibilities with that channel.

You can subscribe to Sling Orange for the standard price of $46 per month if you wish, which will get you weekly access to all CFP ranking shows, top games, and expert analysis from ESPN. But you can also choose to watch for as little as $5 per day with Sling TV, which offers what it calls Passes to allow viewers to stream Sling Orange for a day, a weekend ($10), or a week ($15). As the college football season rounds to a close, you can use these Passes to watch as much or as little as you want, including rankings shows, live games, and more.

The flexibility of Sling TV Passes, as well as the low monthly price of a Sling Orange subscription, make it easy to recommend for college football fans who want to keep track of playoff rankings as the postseason comes to a close.

Save with Sling

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Sling TV

Sling TV is The Streamable’s choice for cord-cutters on a budget. Sling is a live TV streaming service with multiple channel packages. The $45.99/month Sling Orange plan offers about 30 channels, including Disney Channel and ESPN. The $45.99/month Sling Blue plan offers about 40 channels, including ABC, Fox, and NBC in major markets.

You can combine Orange+Blue for a total of $60.99 / month. Sling also offers many channel add-on packages starting at $6/month.

Save with Sling

$19.99+ / month

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Can you watch first College Football Playoff Rankings show for free?

There are a few live TV streaming services with free trials that will allow you to watch the College Football Playoff Rankings show on Nov. 4 with a free trial.

First, DIRECTV has a free trial that lasts five days for all new customers when you sign up for a Signature or Genre channel plan that is delivered through your own device.

Hulu + Live TV has a free trial of three days, after which plans including the Disney Bundle start at $90 per month.

Finally, Fubo comes with a free trial that lasts between one and seven days, depending on factors like what time of month you sign up and others. After the trial, plans start at $83 per month.

What are all the services you can use to watch College Football Playoff Rankings show?

You can watch the 2025 College Football Playoff Rankings show on DIRECTV, Fubo, Hulu + Live TV, and Sling TV, all of which carry ESPN. Of these choices, Sling TV is our favorite for the reasons listed above.

YouTube TV normally carries ESPN and other Disney-owned channels, but as of Nov. 3, a blackout of those channels is affecting all YouTube TV subscribers thanks to a carriage dispute.

Viewers can see the first College Football Playoff Rankings show and other college football content on ESPN channels via the ESPN Unlimited streaming service, costing $30 per month.

How to watch College Football Playoff Rankings show from anywhere

If you’ll be away from home and can’t watch the rankings show as you normally would, you can still catch all of the action no matter where you are in the world with a VPN. A VPN can be used on your phone, tablet, or computer and make you appear to be back home — even when you’re not — making sure you feel at home no matter where you are. A VPN is a safe and secure way to stay protected online while streaming your favorite sports, movies, and shows on the go. Keep in mind that you will still need to be subscribed to a live TV streaming service like Sling TV in order to stream the show with a VPN.

NordVPN is one of the best providers around, at one of the best prices. Currently, you can get two full years of protection for just $3.59 per month — plus you’ll get three extra months FREE. A high-speed VPN with best-in-class security that can be used on up to 10 devices at once — what more could you ask for? Simply sign up, install the software on your device of choice, and start streaming just as you would back home. It couldn’t be easier!

While NordVPN is our recommendation for the best VPN to use while you are traveling, there are a number of other high-quality options available, depending on what you are looking for.

• Best Features: ExpressVPN | Starting at $5 per month
• Best Budget Option: Surfshark | Starting at $2.50 per month
• Best Free Option: Proton VPN | Free plan available