The college football regular season is winding down and the College Football Playoff picture is coming into focus. With a month to go in the regular season, it's time for the selection committee to start ranking the top 25 teams in the nation each week.
On Tuesday night, the committee released its first CFP rankings before Week 11 of the season. There will be a new set of rankings each week before the playoff field is unveiled on Sunday, Dec. 8, the morning after the conference championship games are completed.
Here are the selection committee's initial set of rankings before Week 11, beginning with the team that has topped the AP poll for three consecutive weeks.
- Oregon (9-0)
- Ohio State (7-1)
- Georgia (7-1)
- Miami (FL) (9-0)
- Texas (7-1)
- Penn State (7-1)
- Tennessee (7-1)
- Indiana (9-0)
- BYU (8-0)
- Notre Dame (7-1)
- Alabama (6-2)
- Boise State (7-1)
- SMU (8-1)
- Texas A&M (7-2)
- LSU (6-2)
- Ole Miss (7-2)
- Iowa State (7-1)
- Pittsburgh (7-1)
- Kansas State (7-2)
- Colorado (6-2)
- Washington State (7-1)
- Louisville (6-3)
- Clemson (6-2)
- Missouri (6-2)
- Army (8-0)
Much of the discussion before the CFP rankings reveal was centered around BYU and Indiana, two teams who had been ranked at the back end of the top 10 despite being undefeated in power conferences. The selection committee agreed with the AP poll, ranking Indiana at No. 8 and BYU at No. 9. Both came in behind five one-loss teams.
The committee's rankings were the exact same as the AP poll in the top 17 spots, with the exception of flipping Georgia and Ohio State at Nos. 2 and 3. There will surely be plenty of twists and turns down the home stretch of the regular season, but the similarity in the first poll was stark.
Despite being ranked at No. 9, BYU would be seeded at No. 4 in this hypothetical bracket as the fourth-highest ranked conference champion. That bumps every team above them down one seed, and Ohio State drops from the No. 2 ranking to the No. 5 seed as the Big 10 runner-up after its loss to Oregon.
In Week 11, there are a pair of massive SEC matchups that could prove as playoff eliminators for some. No. 3 Georgia will take on No. 16 Ole Miss in a game that will surely knock the two-loss Rebels out of contention if they lose. Shortly after that one finishes up, a pair of two-loss teams will battle to stay alive in the playoff picture when No. 11 Alabama plays No. 15 LSU in Baton Rouge.
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