The first edition of the College Football Playoff Rankings was released Tuesday night with undefeated Miami (FL) opening at No. 1 ahead of Georgia. Just over a month remains until the final College Football Playoff bracket is selected, so the Hurricanes will need to hold off not only the Bulldogs but the rest of the top 25 if they aim to retain the top seed in the postseason for the best-possible chance at advancing to a second straight CFP National Championship appearance. Off to a dominant start this season, Miami has been forced to play some closer games of late as its schedule has toughened.
To maintain the No. 1 spot, UM may need to go undefeated through the regular season, but even if it suffers a loss, a second straight playoff appearance is likely after the Canes missed the postseason bracket across the first 11 years of its existence. Nine of the 12 teams ranked No. 1 in a season's initial CFP Rankings ultimately reached the playoff, an effort now made easier with the expanded 12-team field, which is being contested for a third and likely final season. Miami is in a strong position to go wire to wire, standing 8-0 (6-0 ACC) with one ranked win (Wake Forest) and only one game remaining against a top 25 team (Nov. 7 at Notre Dame).
No. 2 Georgia, meanwhile, is already 2-0 against ranked opponents this season with three more ahead on its schedule. One-loss Notre Dame, without a quality win this season, is ranked No. 11 as the last team in if the season ended today. "Notre Dame ranked 11th is impressive.
We're impressed by their performance on both sides of the football, they're very good," CFP chair Hunter Yurachek said. "But when you look at Notre Dame's schedule, they don't have that signature win right now. They lost at BYU, next best win is against Wisconsin at a neutral site.
The committee's very impressed by them; wouldn't be 11th if we were not." Utah, reigning champion Indiana and Alabama round out the rest of the top five with SEC teams holding 10 of the top 25 positions in the rankings. With the 12-team playoff model granting automatic bids to the five highest-ranked conference champions, Boise State would take the last spot if the field were chosen today, as it is the only team in the CFP Rankings at No. 25. Yurachek also explained the discrepancy between fifth-ranked Alabama and No. 13 Tennessee, despite the Vols' 26-10 win over the Crimson Tide last month.
He said Alabama and Tennessee were never included in the same "pod", so the head-to-head outcome has not factored into the rankings yet. Yurachek noted Alabama's impressive resume with wins over Kentucky and South Carolina and mentioned the Crimson Tide's victory over Mississippi State, at the time, was notable. The selection committee's first rankings provide a soft starting point, with stress tests coming the remainder of the month for perceived national championship contenders beginning with two unbeatens going on the road, one-loss hopefuls with opportunity and a few teams on the bubble.
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