Ohio State leads Georgia and Michigan in first College Football Playoff rankings release
The first College Football Playoff rankings are out, with Ohio State being installed as the No. 1 team in the initial reveal of the rankings that will decide which teams will be selected for the semifinals at the end of the season.
It's the second season and fourth time overall the Buckeyes have been at the top of the rankings. They were there for three weeks in 2019. Ohio State is 8-0 with wins against two significant ranked opponents - Notre Dame and Penn State.
Two-time defending champion Georgia checks in at No. 2. The Bulldogs have been rounding into form after a slow start. Michigan might be the most-dominant team in the country but the lack of schedule strength works against the Wolverines.
Michigan's position wasn't impacted by the ongoing sign-stealing investigation being conducted by the NCAA, according to North Carolina State athletic director Boo Corrigan, who serves as the chairman of the playoff committee chairman.
"Our job - as we look at it - is to rank the teams and to follow our protocol. As we went through it, that wasn't really part of any discussion that occurred during our time together," Corrigan said. "We really view it as an NCAA issue not a CFP issue. At this point in time, as we’re looking at this, we want to make sure we get not only the top four teams but the top 25 teams right."
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Florida State occupies the fourth spot, meaning the Seminoles would be in the field if the season ended today. Washington checks in at No. 5. The Huskies haven't lost a game but struggled in their last two games against Arizona State and Stanford - two of the worst teams in the Pac-12.
After the five unbeatens left in the Power Five, Oregon checks in as the top one-loss team at No. 6. Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi round out the top 10.
The Pac-12 and SEC lead all conferences in the top 25 with six teams each followed by the Big 12 with five. The Big Ten has only three teams, though all are among the top 11 with Penn State joining Ohio State and Michigan. The other league with multiple teams is the ACC with two.
No. 24 Tulane leads all teams from the Group of Five conferences. The highest-ranked champion from those leagues earns an automatic berth in one of the New Year's Six bowl games. Air Force at No. 25, is the only other Group of Five school in the initial rankings.
The final ranking of the committee will take place Dec. 3, and the top four teams will earn spots in the playoff.
History has shown that – on average – half of the first four in the initial release won't make the field. In eight of the nine seasons of the playoff rankings, 15 of the 32 teams in the top four from the first poll didn't make the semifinals.
Only two from the first four - Georgia and Ohio State - made the field last year. Missing out were Tennessee, which started out at No. 1, and Clemson, which opened at No. 4. The only outlier where all of the initial top four made the playoff was in 2020, a truncated season due to COVID-19 that had fewer ranking releases.
The semifinals will be played at the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1. The championship game will take place on Jan. 8 at NRG Stadium in Houston.
College Football Playoff committee Top 25
1. Ohio State (8-0)
2. Georgia (8-0)
3. Florida State (8-0)
4. Michigan (8-0)
5. Washington (8-0)
6. Oregon (7-1)
7. Texas (7-1)
8. Alabama (7-1)
9. Oklahoma (7-1)
10. Mississippi (7-1)
11. Penn State (7-1)
12. Missouri (7-1)
13. Louisville (7-1)
14. LSU (6-2)
15. Notre Dame (7-2)
16. Oregon State (6-2)
17. Tennessee (6-2)
18. Utah (6-2)
19. UCLA (6-2)
20. Southern California (7-2)
21. Kansas (6-2)
22. Oklahoma State (6-2)
23. Kansas State (6-2)
24. Tulane (7-1)
25. Air Force (8-0)
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What are the College Football Playoff rankings? Here's the complete list
