It's hard to believe that it's already November and that the college football season has been going on for two months. We are two thirds of the way through the regular season, and we will have a College Football Playoff field before we know it. On Tuesday evening, we got our first good look where each team stands in the eye of the committee as the first College Football Playoff rankings were released. Up to this point in the season, we had only been going off of the AP Poll. While that give people a decent idea of how good their team is, it doesn't actually mean anything in terms of the College Football Playoff rankings.
The new CFP rankings started off with a surprise as the #1 team in the country is Ohio State football. Georgia had been ranked #1 all season long in the AP Poll, and after winning the last two national championships, most people assumed that they would be #1 until they lost. However, that is not the case, and it's good to see the CFP committee valuing what has happened this year. Georgia doesn't really have any good wins and they have looked sloppy at times, while the Buckeyes have defeated two top-15 teams. Ohio State hasn't looked very dominant, but those are still two good wins.
At the end of the day, everyone will have always have some issues with the CFP rankings. The committee can't rank 25 teams and please everyone. There are some teams in the right spot, and there are some teams that probably should be ranked elsewhere. Here are three teams that the College Football Playoff rankings committee got wrong in the initial release.
#1 Ohio State
Yes, Ohio State has two good wins over Penn State and Notre Dame, but the CFP committee got this one wrong. The Buckeyes are not the best team in the country, and it isn't particularly close, either. Ohio State has been ranked below Georgia and Michigan all year in the AP Poll, and that should've been the case in the College Football Playoff rankings as well. Those important wins do matter, but when you actually watch Ohio State play football, they don't look like the best team in the country.
This is the least productive offense that the Buckeyes have had in a long time and they don't have elite quarterback play for the first time in a long time. Without Marvin Harrison Jr., that unit would be in big trouble. Ohio State looks good on defense so far this season, but they have also played a lot of struggling offenses. When it's time to stop Michigan, will the Buckeyes be up for the challenge, or will they give up 40+ again? We'll see.
#5 Washington
If the committee wants to reward key wins, why didn't they reward Washington more? There are five power five teams that can potentially win their conference with an undefeated record: Ohio State, Georgia, Michigan, Florida State and Washington. Out of all of those teams, the Huskies have the best win as they took down #6 Oregon earlier this season. However, out of all five of those teams, Washington is ranked the lowest. The CFP committee needs to be more consistent.
#25 Air Force
It's good to see a team like Air Force crack the top 25, and the Falcons are currently in the middle of a magical season. They are undefeated so far, and they have their eyes set on a New Year's Six bowl game. However, by ranking Air Force at #25 just behind #24 Tulane, the committee could be saying that an undefeated Air Force could end up behind a one-loss Tulane in the rankings at the end of the season. This will likely work itself out in the long run, but it was surprising to not see the Falcons as the highest ranked non-power five team.
There are always going to be complaints with the College Football Playoff rankings, especially the first one. However, things typically fall into place by the team the regular season ends, and that will likely be the case yet again this season. It will be exciting to see the CFP rankings change each week, and it's going to be an exciting finish to the college football regular season.
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