Before I get too deep into this, the season's first College Football Playoff ranking is essentially useless. Not to be a downer in any sense, but so much can still happen with each team's remaining games that there's no need to freak out about the rankings. At this point, the committee can't really screw any particular team over; there's still enough time for each team to control their own destiny.
The College Football Playoff committee makes a big production of each week's rankings for one reason: get people talking about the College Football Playoff. Which it obviously does, seeing as I'm writing this post. So let's take a look at the rankings:
- Georgia (8-0)
- Alabama (8-0)
- Notre Dame (7-1)
- Clemson (7-1)
- Oklahoma (7-1)
- Ohio State (7-1)
- Penn State (7-1)
- TCU (7-1)
- Wisconsin (8-0)
- Miami (7-0)
- Oklahoma State (7-1)
- Washington (7-1)
- Virginia Tech (7-1)
- Auburn (6-2)
- Iowa State (6-2)
- Mississippi State (6-2)
- USC (7-2)
- UCF (7-0)
- LSU (6-2)
- NC State (6-2)
- Stanford (6-2)
- Arizona (6-2)
- Memphis (7-1)
- Michigan State (6-2)
- Washington State (7-2)
Georgia and Alabama were clearly going to be the country's top two teams, and Georgia being ahead of the almighty Crimson Tide certainly adds a bit of a shock factor and increases discussion. But making a legitimate argument for this isn't that difficult to do, seeing as Georgia has more impressive wins by beating No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 16 Mississippi State. Other than their one-point win over the Fighting Irish, the Bulldog's closest game has been a 21-point win over Appalachian State in week one. The Bulldogs average margin of victory is 26.5 points.
Now that's not to say Alabama hasn't been great, boasting a margin of victory of 33.25; it's just that the Bulldogs have had a tougher schedule, which naturally gives them more quality wins. And again, this will get people talking more than if the always No. 1 Crimson Tide continued the trend. None of Alabama's past opponents appear in the newest rankings, but the next two weeks present No. 19 LSU and No. 16 Mississippi State. Also, 'Bama will face-off in the regular season's final week against No. 14 Auburn. So the Tide will have their chance to beat ranked opponents, and I genuinely believe they'll take care of every one of those teams.
Whether you like it or not, at this point in time, Notre Dame deserves that No. 3 spot. This isn't the same type of Notre Dame team that was in playoff talks at this time in 2015, whose main selling point was a close loss to Clemson. Yes, this 2017 Notre Dame team has a one-point loss to No. 1 Georgia as a résumé booster. But on top of that are wins over three currently ranked teams. And it's not just that they've beat these teams, they've smacked these teams. They beat the No. 24 Michigan State Spartans 38-18, beat up on No. 17 USC 49-14 under the lights, and took care of No. 20 NC State last week in a 35-14 victory. They have one of the most effective ground games in the country. Yes, Notre Dame's lack of a conference championship game will always give them one less selling point for a playoff spot, but a schedule like this is still tougher than most of the Power Five teams. The Irish still have to go up against No. 10 Miami and No. 21 Stanford. I also wouldn't sleep on the Navy game that falls in between those two ranked matchups. The fight for a playoff spot is far from over, but if they finish the season with a lone loss to Georgia, they deserve a spot. Well, depending on how Georgia potentially performs against Alabama in the SEC Championship. But still, Notre Dame has one of the best résumés in the country, and for right now the No. 3 spot is appropriate.
Clemson at No. 4 is no surprise, especially now that TCU and Penn State have joined the one-loss club after last weekend. Clemson's only remaining ranked opponent this regular season is this weekend against No. 20 NC State. Before Clemson beat Georgia Tech last week, they were upset by Syracuse. They're coming off a win that should have been more demanding, so I expect the Tigers to come out firing. They'll be eager to remind the college football world that they are one of the most complete teams in the country. Notre Dame fans, for their own team's sake, need the Wolfpack to compete at a high level with the Tigers, but I don't know if I see that happening. If things go as expected, I see Clemson facing off against Miami in the ACC Championship, and I see the Tigers handling the 'Canes with relative ease.
The No. 10 spot for Miami makes a lot of sense to me. Sure, they're undefeated, but the quality and fashion of their wins have been nothing to write home about. Miami should be extremely cautious of Virginia Tech this weekend, as I think the Hokies are very capable of exposing the U. Unfortunately for Miami, they have to host Notre Dame right after Virginia Tech. If you ask me, chances are wildly slim for Miami to come out of this stretch 2-0.
Oklahoma beating Ohio State, who beat Penn State, sets up the five through seven spots very nicely. It makes sense. From the eye test, I think Penn State would whoop Oklahoma into the next century. But when that perfect chain of who-beat-who works out the way it did, these rankings for this moment make complete sense. Oklahoma's lone loss to Iowa State looks much better now that the Cyclones are No. 15 after upsetting TCU on Saturday. And of course Oklahoma's win over Ohio State looks much better after the Buckeyes' comeback over Penn State. The Sooners' still have to go up against No. 11 Oklahoma State and No. 8 TCU in the next two weeks. I don't think Oklahoma will win both of these, and I think two in-conference losses would eliminate the Sooners' playoff hopes. I've got my fingers crossed for the Big 12 to implode its playoff chances.
Another thing I've got my fingers crossed for is the Wisconsin Badgers winning out and taking home the BIG 10 Championship. No. 9 is a rational spot for the Badgers to be at, seeing as their undefeated record hasn't been too heavily threatened by the quality of their opponents. It also doesn't help that Wisconsin slightly resembled garbage against Illinois, just a few days before the CFP committee came out with the rankings. But the Badgers are legit, no doubt about it. This isn't a team that will ever win with "style points." They grind 'em out, every single time. They don't have any ranked opponents left for the regular season, although Michigan and Minnesota shouldn't be taken too lightly. Whether they'd matchup against Ohio State or Penn State in the conference championship, that hasn't gone in the Badgers favor as of late (lost to Penn State 38-31 in 2016, lost to OSU 59-0 in 2014).
Although the Pac 12 is tied with the SEC for most teams in the current top 25 (five teams each; all other Power Five conferences have four), I can tell you right now that we will not see a Pac 12 representative in the College Football Playoff. They have a bunch of solid teams, but whoever the 2017 champion of that conference will be is, in fact, not elite. Not only do the other Power Five conferences have better arguments, but Notre Dame being in the picture just further diminishes the Pac 12's chances.
That's it for now. There are plenty of good games this weekend, I'll be previewing one of them before the weekend:
- No. 7 Penn State @ No. 24 Michigan State
- Baylor (0-8) @ Kansas (1-7) !!!!!!!
- No. 4 Clemson @ No. 20 NC State
- No. 21 Stanford @ No. 25 Washington State
- No. 5 Oklahoma @ No. 11 Oklahoma State
- No. 19 LSU @ No. 2 Alabama
- No. 13 Virginia Tech @ No. 10 Miami
- No. 22 Arizona @ No. 17 USC
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