Ohio State claimed the No. 1 spot in the initial rankings released by the College Football Playoff committee on Tuesday night, with Big Ten rival Indiana right behind at No. 2.
The defending national champion Buckeyes won’t face the Hoosiers until a potential collision in the Big Ten championship game. Neither team has stumbled this season, and they are widely considered the two best teams in college football.
Texas A&M, undefeated like Ohio State and Indiana, came in No. 3 in the first rankings reveal of the season. Then the committee rewarded a trio of one-loss SEC teams, with Alabama, Georgia and Ole Miss slotting in Nos. 4-6.
CFP committee chair Mack Rhoades, Baylor’s athletic director, told ESPN regarding the top places, “We had robust discussion about the three of them. Obviously, all three are undefeated. … We really felt like that Ohio State and Indiana were close. When you look at the statistical data, both offensively and defensively, these are two teams that are both in the top five offensively and in the top five defensively, both with really good wins.
“But again, when we looked at tape, and we looked at metrics, we felt that Ohio State was a little bit better up front, on the offensive line. And we thought they were better defensively.”
Completing the top 10 were unbeaten Big 12 leader BYU, followed by Texas Tech, Oregon and two-loss Notre Dame. Oregon was seventh in the AP Top 25 poll this week, ahead of BYU and Texas Tech, but the Ducks were apparently dinged for having no quality win on their resume (a 30-24 victory at Penn State lost its luster when the Nittany Lions dropped the next four games).
Rhoades said of Oregon, “When you look at (the Ducks) in the top 10, our lowest ranked in terms of record strength. And so the committee had a lot of conversations — rigorous debate and conversations — about Oregon as a team.”
No teams from outside the Power 4 conferences made the initial rankings. Memphis, though it fell outside the committee’s top 25, was penciled in as the No. 12 playoff seed as the fifth highest-rated conference champion.
Memphis was No. 22 in the AP poll this week, and the Tigers are battling Navy, North Texas and Tulane for the American Conference championship and an automatic bid into the field.
Upstart Virginia also benefits from being projected as one of five conference champs. The Cavaliers are No. 14 in the initial rankings but the highest among ACC teams, thus earning the No. 11 seed in the mock bracket.
Unlike last year, the top four teams in the rankings get the top four seeds regardless of conference, rather than the four best conference champs receiving first-round byes. That led to a pair of Big Ten teams and a pair of SEC teams slotted in at Nos. 1-4. Seeds 5-8 get to host first-round games at campus sites.
The final CFP rankings will be released on Sunday, Dec. 7, after all of the conference championship games have taken place.
CFP initial bracket
First-round games:
–No. 12 Memphis at No. 5 Georgia
–No. 11 Virginia at No. 6 Ole Miss
–No. 10 Notre Dame at No. 7 BYU
–No. 9 Oregon at No. 8 Texas Tech
First-round byes: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Indiana, No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 4 Alabama
CFP initial Top 25
1. Ohio State (8-0)
2. Indiana (9-0)
3. Texas A&M (8-0)
4. Alabama (7-1)
5. Georgia (7-1)
6. Ole Miss (8-1)
7. BYU (8-0)
8. Texas Tech (8-1)
9. Oregon (7-1)
10. Notre Dame (6-2)
11. Texas (7-2)
12. Oklahoma (7-2)
13. Utah (7-2)
14. Virginia (8-1)
15. Louisville (7-1)
16. Vanderbilt (7-2)
17. Georgia Tech (8-1)
18. Miami (6-2)
19. Southern California (6-2)
20. Iowa (6-2)
21. Michigan (7-2)
22. Missouri (6-2)
23. Washington (6-2)
24. Pitt (7-2)
25. Tennessee (6-3)
–Field Level Media
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