COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF RANKING
No. 1 Clemson; No. 2 LSU; No. 3 Ohio State; No. 4 Alabama; No. 5 Notre Dame; No. 6 Baylor; No. 7 Michigan State; No. 8 TCU; No. 9 Iowa; No. 10 Florida; No. 11 Stanford; No. 12 Utah; No. 13 Memphis; No. 14 Oklahoma State; No. 15 Oklahoma; No. 16 Florida State; No. 17 Michigan; No. 18 Ole Miss; No. 19 Texas A&M; No. 20 Mississippi State; No. 21 Houston; No. 22 Temple; No. 23 UCLA; No. 24 Toledo; No. 25 Houston.
NEXT GAME
Minnesota at Ohio State, 8 p.m. Saturday, ABC, 1410
NEXT GAME
Minnesota at Ohio State, 8 p.m. Saturday, ABC, 1410
Ohio State has played as the No. 1 team all season and protected that ranking through eight games, but it is No. 1 no more — not in the only poll that matters.
The Buckeyes (8-0) landed at No. 3 in the first College Football Playoff ranking released Tuesday night on ESPN. If the playoffs began this week, Ohio State would play No. 2 Louisiana State (7-0) in one semifinal — either the Orange Bowl or the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 31 — and No. 1 Clemson (8-0) would play No. 4 Alabama (7-1) in the other.
Strength of schedule hurt the Buckeyes. Their toughest games loom in the coming weeks: versus Michigan State (8-0), which ranks seventh in the playoff ranking, on Nov. 21 in Columbus and at No. 17 Michigan (6-2) a week later. They could then meet an undefeated Iowa in the Big Ten championship game Dec. 5. Iowa (8-0) ranks ninth in the first playoff ranking.
“I know looking at the schedules coming up, ours and others,” Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said Tuesday before the ranking was released, “whatever comes out is going to change drastically over the next few weeks.”
Wide receiver Michael Thomas, reacting to the ranking on Twitter, realizes that.
Ohio State’s first eight opponents have a combined record of 32-35. Only three are above .500: Penn State (7-2), Western Michigan (5-3) and Northern Illinois (5-3).
Clemson’s opponents are 38-29, and it is No. 1 largely because of its 24-22 victory over No. 5 Notre Dame. That’s the best victory of any team in the top 10.
“They have four teams that have better than a .500 record they have defeated,” said Jeff Long, the Kettering native who is chairman of the selection committee for the second straight season, on ESPN. “That combined with really an offense and a defense that are very strong on both sides of the ball, I think that’s what won the day in the committee’s eyes for the No. 1 ranking.”
Alabama earned the No. 4 ranking despite a 43-37 loss at home to No. 18 Mississippi (7-2) on Sept. 19. Florida (7-1) ranks 10th, having lost only to LSU.
“Alabama has a quality victory more than Florida in our eyes,” Long said. “They’ve got three wins against teams that have a .500 or better record, and Florida has two. They’re actually very close even though they may be separated in our rankings.”
This is the first of six rankings. They will be released on Tuesday nights through Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. except for Nov. 17 when they will come out at 9:30 p.m.
The 12-person selection committee releases the final ranking on Sunday, Dec. 6, at noon, the day after the Big Ten championship.
About the Author
