The College Football Playoff committee released their first ranking on Tuesday, November 24th. The committee will release their rankings every Tuesday until December 20th, where they will determine the 4 teams that will compete for the national championship, along with placing teams in the New Years Six bowls. Here is the committee's first rankings.
#25 Tulsa (5-1)
#24 Iowa (3-2)
#23 Oklahoma State (5-2)
#22 Auburn (5-2)
#21 Marshall (7-0)
#20 Coastal Carolina (8-0)
#19 North Carolina (6-2)
#18 USC (3-0)
#17 Texas (5-2)
#16 Wisconsin (2-1)
#15 Oregon (3-0)
#14 BYU (9-0)
#13 Iowa State (6-2)
#12 Indiana (4-1)
#11 Oklahoma (6-2)
#10 Miami (7-1)
#9 Georgia (5-2)
#8 Northwestern (5-0)
#7 Cincinnati (8-0)
First Two Out
#6 Florida (6-1)
#5 Texas A&M (5-1)
Top Four
#4 Ohio State (4-0)
#3 Clemson (7-1)
#2 Notre Dame (8-0)
#1 Alabama (7-0)
BYU AT 14 WOW
Not because I think BYU is a fantastic team, but because it was such a difference from where the AP poll has them ranked at 8. The offense is really good and led by Heisman contender Zach Wilson but their schedule is, how do I put it, absolutely horrendous. They've played no one that would allow the committee to say "hey, let's put them in the top 10." Hopefully they can schedule some games against Pac-12 teams to bring their ranking up in the coming weeks.
I'd like to take this moment to shouout Marshall, Costal Carolina, and Cincinnati for being the three representatives of the Group of 5. All three teams play fantastic football and Cincinnati has an outside shot to crash the playoff party.
I think the rankings are pretty on point until we get to Indiana at 11. You could argue that they have the best loss in the country. Last week's one possession loss to Ohio State showed that they can hang with the so called "big boys." Which is why I'm shocked that they ended up behind Miami at 10 and Georgia at 9.
Miami is not a good football team. They are D'Eriq King (a fantastic player) and a bunch of guys who get in his way. Seriously. Watch a Miami game. There is a point in every game where Miami has no idea how to get past a mid-tier ACC team and King needs to abandon the gameplan and do it all himself. If anything, we should be putting D'Eriq King at 10, not Miami.
Which brings us to Georgia at 9. Let me say this in all caps so my point is not misconstruied. THE GEORGIA OFFENSE IS HORRIBLE, PAWL. It took them 7 games to put in the QB they should have started Week 1 (when they said he was healthy and good to go) and this past week's one possession win over Mississippi State (a team that fielded 47 players) was the first time the Todd Monken offense showed signs of life.
Put Indiana at 9 and move Miami and Georgia back a spot.
I'm not mad about Northwestern at 8 because they told us exactly how they were going to play before the season and then they went out and did it. They will, presumably, play Ohio State in the Big 10 championship game after all but locking up a division title. Their offense looks leaps and bounds better after looking inept for so many years. They earned this ranking. Good on you, Fighting Reece Davises.
Cincinatti at 7 is interesting because it leaves the door open for a potential playoff appearance. In order for that to happen, the Bearcats would need to:
Win out, including winning the AAC championship game
Have Texas A&M lose a game
Have Florida lose to Alabama in the SEC championship game
Have Notre Dame lose a game BEFORE the ACC championship game
Have Clemson win out AND beat Notre Dame in the ACC championship game
That should do it, but even then it might not be enough. It's going to be tough, but if there's any year the committee can look past it's Power 5 bias, it's 2020.
Florida at 6 and Texas A&M at 5 makes sense since they are both better than the teams after them, but not at the level of the top 4. #Analysis. A&M has the advantage due to their head to head win earlier this year. Both teams should stay right in this area until the end of the rankings because of their remaining schedules. Florida has a defacto playoff play-in game in the SEC Championship game against Alabama, while A&M needs to hope for an Iron Bowl upset this week to make the jump into the top 4.
The top 4 is exactly how I anticipated it. Alabama is clearly the best team in the country. Notre Dame has the best win in the country and Ian Book remembered he had a library card after the Clemson game. Clemson is an NFL team with a bunch of injuries and can't be ranked ahead of Notre Dame because of their head-to-head matchup earlier this year. And Ohio State hasn't played enough games to jump ahead of the other three. Justin Fields throwing 3 interceptions last week against Indiana and the defense letting the Hoosiers come back into the game in the 2nd half probably didn't leave a good taste in the committee's mouth, either.
We have officially entered "Tuesdays Matter" season in the CFB world. With rivalry week this weekend and multiple teams unsure if they will field a full schedule, chaos is bound to ensue.