ATHENS - The first College Football Playoff rankings of the season put schedule strength front and center, and the committee made it clear it was willing to reward teams that have been tested.
With only three undefeated teams entering November, the fewest the sport has seen since the CFP era began in 2014, the selection committee leaned on wins over .500 teams and head-to-head results as it sorted through a crowded field. The SEC, as usual, was all over the board: five teams in the top 10 and 10 in the Top 25, a setup that matched the broad shape of the AP poll.
Miami (8-0) landed at No. 1, and committee chairman Hunter Yurachek said the decision was straightforward.
“it was really unanimous” that Miami was the top team, and “not that Miami was an easy definitive choice, but that may have been the easiest decision that the committee had to make.”
Georgia (7-1) checked in at No. 2, even with a loss to unranked Auburn that could become a major issue if the Bulldogs wind up in a cluster of two-loss teams. Yurachek said Georgia was evaluated in a group that included Miami, Utah (8-0), Indiana (8-1) and “two other teams,” which would appear to be UCLA (8-0) and BYU (7-1).
“It would fair to say that those teams that were in a top four were in a pod together,” Yurachek said. “They would have been joined by two other teams comparatively, not necessarily (No.
- Alabama and (No. 6) Kentucky, and then you look at two of those teams that are undefeated ….. and then you’ve got Georgia with that one loss at home against Auburn, but they’ve got a really good win on the road against Alabama.”
Alabama’s No. 5 spot was one of the more eye-catching calls in the opening rankings. The Crimson Tide have two losses, yet they were placed ahead of unbeaten UCLA, along with one-loss Kentucky, BYU and Notre Dame. That ranking showed just how much the committee valued the strength of Alabama’s slate.
The Crimson Tide have played seven of eight games against teams with records of .500 or better, and Yurachek pointed to wins over No. 6 Kentucky, No. 21 South Carolina and a Mississippi State team that was 4-0 at the time and had “dynamic” quarterback Kamario Taylor healthy.
“We are not over-penalizing teams for losses that the committee thinks highly of,” Yurachek said. “As we speak today, a loss to an Alabama or Tennessee or Georgia is not on the same level as an unranked team.
“Those three teams have several wins against teams the committee thinks highly of.”
Ohio State’s placement at No. 12 also drew attention, especially with the Buckeyes’ history and the Big Ten’s recent run of CFP titles. If the bracket were set today, Ohio State would be left out of the 12-team field because Boise State, as the highest-ranked Group of 6 team, would take the No. 12 seed.
Yurachek said Ohio State’s 30-18 loss at No. 20 USC on Saturday carried significant weight, particularly because USC had lost to unranked Wisconsin the week before and has a defense the committee clearly did not view favorably.
Notre Dame, ranked No. 11, is another traditional power that will be under the microscope. Yurachek backed up the Irish’s spot by noting their 1-1 record against teams with records of .500 or better and their loss to the only Top 25 opponent they have faced so far, No. 9 BYU, by a 28-24 margin.
There was also a bit of school history tucked into the top of the rankings: Miami, Utah and Kentucky all received the highest CFP rankings in their program histories.
“We’ve got seven matchups versus Top 25 (playing one another on Saturday), so we can expect these rankings will change significantly over the next few weeks,” Yurachek said.
“The parity we have seen is great for college football, but it has made for an unpredictable year so far… and we expect that trend to continue.”
If the season ended today, the projected bracket would send Boise State to Alabama, Notre Dame to Kentucky, Ole Miss to Texas and BYU to UCLA in the first round on Dec. 18-19 at campus sites.
The quarterfinal matchups would line up as Miami against the BYU-UCLA winner, Georgia against the Ole Miss-Texas winner, Utah against the Notre Dame-Kentucky winner and Indiana against the Boise State-Alabama winner. The semifinals are scheduled for Jan. 14 at the Orange Bowl and Jan. 15 at the Sugar Bowl, with the championship game set for Jan. 25 in Las Vegas.
The full top 25 opened with Miami, Georgia, Utah and Indiana in the top four, followed by Alabama, Kentucky, Texas, UCLA, BYU, Ole Miss, Notre Dame and Ohio State. Tennessee, LSU, Texas Tech, Wake Forest, Houston, Missouri, Iowa, USC, South Carolina, Arizona, Oregon, Florida and Boise State rounded out the rankings.
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