The CFP rankings are out and no other list matters moving forward this season. The College Football Playoff Selection Committee, led by Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades, announced its first rankings for the upcoming 12-team playoff.
The committee will eventually select the final 12-team group on Dec. 7. So, Tuesday’s list is somewhat meaningless in the grande scheme. Still, it is an important metric to determine what needs to take place for teams angling to make the playoffs.
The top group in college football has become well defined with only four undefeated FBS teams remaining in Week 11 of the season. After that things get a little more uncertain.
There will surely be some unhappy fan bases following Tuesday’s release, but the committee looks to have mostly got it right.
The Upper Echelon Of The CFP
1. Ohio State (8-0 | AP: 1)
2. Indiana (9-0 | AP: 2)
3. Texas A&M (8-0 | AP: 3)
4. Alabama (7-1 | AP: 4)
5. Georgia (7-1 | AP: 5)
The top five of the CFP matches the latest Associated Press Top 25 exactly with undefeated Ohio State leading the way. The Buckeyes’ toughest remaining matchup before the Big Ten title game will come against rival Michigan on Nov. 29. The Wolverines are currently ranked 21st in both polls.
Indiana, which received 11 first-place votes in the latest AP poll, doesn’t have any ranked teams on its remaining schedule. Curt Cignetti’s Hoosiers will face Penn State, Wisconsin and Purdue to close out the regular season.
That makes the potential Big Ten title game matchup between the top two teams very likely at this stage.
The Next Tier
6. Ole Miss (8-1 | AP: 7)
7. BYU (8-0 | AP: 8)
8. Texas Tech (8-1 | AP: 9)
9. Oregon (7-1 | AP: 6)
10. Notre Dame (6-2 | AP: 10)
The next group that feels to be firmly in place at this stage to earn a spot in the CFP has the first disparity between the two major rankings. Oregon has the biggest gripe with the first rankings that were released Tuesday. The Ducks’ only loss came in a 10-point defeat at home against Indiana. That was enough for the committee to place Dan Lanning’s team three spots lower than its AP poll ranking.
Oregon will get an opportunity to face three teams ranked in the initial CFP rankings starting with No. 20 Iowa this Saturday. The Ducks’ best win to this point came against then-No. 3 Penn State. Oregon will face Minnesota following this weekend’s trip to Iowa before wrapping up the season back on the West Coast against No. 19 USC and No. 23 Washington.
On The Bubble
11. Texas (7-2 | AP: 13)
12. Oklahoma (7-2 | AP: 11)
13. Utah (7-2 | AP: 17)
14. Virginia (8-1 | AP: 12)
15. Louisville (7-1 | AP: 14)
16. Vanderbilt (7-2 | AP: 15)
17. Georgia Tech (8-1 | AP: 16)
18. Miami (6-2 | AP: 18)
19. USC (6-2 | AP: 20)
There is still much to be decided with the next group. The committee opted not to include a Group of 5 team in the rankings. Memphis is the lone G5 team ranked in the AP poll at No. 22 this week. There is still plenty of movement possible with that group before the dust settles. Virginia would be the other team that would leapfrog both Texas and Oklahoma in this scenario as the top representative from the ACC.
The Cavaliers, who beat Cal in Week 10, are 12th in the latest AP poll but ranked behind their counterparts from the SEC in the first CFP rankings. Both the Longhorns and Sooners will need some help to move themselves firmly into the conversation as it stands now with both on the bubble.
The biggest discrepancy in the rankings comes with Utah. The Utes are slotted at No. 17 by the media in the AP poll, but the committee bumped them up to No. 13 in the initial CFP rankings. Utah’s two losses came against Texas Tech and BYU when both were ranked 17th in the AP poll. A dismantling of Cincinnati over the weekend earned the Utes attention and has them at least in the hunt with a few more weeks to go.
Bottom Tier
20. Iowa (6-2 | AP: Unranked)
21. Michigan (7-2 | AP: 21)
22. Missouri (6-2 | AP: 19)
23. Washington (6-2 | AP: 24)
24. Pittsburgh (7-2 | AP: Unranked)
25. Tennessee (6-3 | AP: 23)
The committee opted to add Iowa and Pittsburgh to the rankings differing from what the media felt this week. The programs from the Big Ten and ACC, respectively, replace Memphis and Cincinnati from the AP list. Tennessee belonging to the SEC seems to have scored the Volunteers some points with the committee and with voters. Tennessee is the only three-loss team on either list and is actually higher in the AP poll at No. 23.
The Vols’ three losses have all come to ranked opponents (Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma) but they have no overwhelmingly impressive victories so far this year.