College Football Playoff Rankings: 5 Most Important Questions, What To Look For Tonight

What are the most important things to watch for in the first 2020-2021 College Football Playoff rankings to come out Tuesday night?

What are the most important things to watch for in the first 2020-2021 College Football Playoff rankings to come out Tuesday night?


Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

How will we know if the committee is on its game?
How the heck do you rank the Pac-12 teams?
How much will the committee tease Cincinnati and BYU?
Miami vs. Northwestern vs. Texas A&M

College Football Playoff Rankings Prediction: Week 1
Path to the Playoff: 20 Teams Still Alive

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5. What will the top 4 be?

 This is the one thing that everyone really cares about, and it’s actually one of the least important aspects to the first College Football Playoff rankings.

Super-fun trivia time. The first ever No. 1-ranked team in the College Football Playoff rankings was … ?

The answer coming in a moment, but it’ll prove a point.

In 2014, Florida State was No. 2, Auburn was third, and Ole Miss was fourth.  Ohio State won the national championship, and where was it ranked?

16th.

Florida State, Oregon, and Alabama got in, too, with the Ducks starting out ranked fifth and Bama sixth.

The first ever CFP No. 1 was … Dak Prescott’s Mississippi State team, and it finished seventh in the final rankings.

Out of the 24 teams ranked in the top four of the first six initial College Football Playoff rankings, only 13 of them ended up in the CFP.

Remember, even in this wacky year the rules – implied and suggested – still apply.

These rankings get thrown out and the committee starts over next week, all that really matters are the final rankings, and you’re a mortal lock if you go unbeaten and win your Power Five conference championship, and you’re almost a lock if you lose one game but win your Power Five conference championship.

Oh, and to answer the question, Alabama, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and to go on a bit of a limb, Texas A&M.

How will we know if the committee is on its game?
How the heck do you rank the Pac-12 teams?
How much will the committee tease Cincinnati and BYU?
Miami vs. Northwestern vs. Texas A&M

NEXT: How will we know if the College Football Playoff committee is on its game?

College Football Playoff Rankings Reaction: 5 Things We Learned. Utah vs. Big 12 Fight

Five reactions and what we learned from the fourth rankings from the College Football Playoff committee.  

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Five reactions and what we learned from the fourth rankings from the College Football Playoff committee.  


Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

Big 12 vs. Utah
The known unknown is …
Penn State love
What it all really means

5. Rapid-Fire First Reaction To Latest College Football Playoff Rankings

What’s with the refusal to like what Virginia Tech is doing? Yeah, it got wiped out by Duke 45-10 at the end of September, but that was before making a quarterback change – the committee is supposed to notice things like that – and before the team went on a run.

The Hokies have won six of their last seven game, with the one loss coming on the final drive against Notre Dame on the road. They whacked Wake Forest, and over the last two weeks beat Georgia Tech and Pitt by a combined score of 63-0. This team should be a whole lot higher than 24.

Virginia Tech being ranked makes things easier. Now we know that the Virginia-VT winner – and Coastal Division champ – will be the easy pick to go to the Orange Bowl if it loses to Clemson.

Ohio State moving up to No. 1 doesn’t matter all that much, unless it’s the committee’s way of providing a time to get used to the idea of LSU not being in the top spot. Why does this matter?

The College Football Playoff committee REALLY and truly just wants to get it right, and there isn’t some hidden agenda other than simply wanting to create the best four-team tournament possible. With that said, by moving up the Buckeyes now, it’s setting it up to avoid a possible LSU/Alabama rematch in the semifinal.

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Wisconsin at 12, Michigan at 13. Thank you, College Football Playoff committee, for being the only rankings to acknowledge the Badger blowout win over the Wolverines.

Nah, Oregon’s drop to 14 isn’t going to matter as much as you might think. Utah is going to have to dominate the Pac-12 Championship no matter what and get in as a 12-1 Power Five champ. After this weekend, Oregon will move up to around 11.

18 Memphis and 19 Cincinnati play each other, and they could play the week after in the American Athletic Conference championship. No. 20 Boise State has a better shot than you think of being the Group of Five champion going to the Cotton Bowl.

Big 12 vs. Utah
The known unknown is …
Penn State love
What it all really means

NEXT: Big 12 vs. Utah

College Football Playoff Rankings Reaction: 5 Things We Learned, Top 25 Best Wins Of 2019

Five reactions and what we learned from the third rankings from the College Football Playoff committee. Also, the 25 best wins this season.

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Five reactions and what we learned from the third rankings from the College Football Playoff committee. Also, the 25 best wins so far this season.


Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

If Alabama wins out …
The known unknown is …
What’s a big win? Top 25 wins
What it all really means

5. Rapid-Fire First Reaction To Latest College Football Playoff Rankings

Nothing much actually changed, and that in and of itself is important. The College Football Playoff committee basically punted on a slew of big decisions and calls for now, but that matters.

Oklahoma didn’t get a big bump. Minnesota rocketed up to 8 last week after handing Penn State its only loss so far this year. Oklahoma came up with a special comeback and performance to get by Baylor, and it only moved up one spot. That means …

There appears to be a hard ceiling on how high the Sooners can get. Beating CFP No. 21 Oklahoma State would be nice, and getting by No. 14 Baylor would be solid again if that happens in the Big 12 Championship, but there’s not much room to move up the rankings, because …

Even at 12-1 with a Big 12 Championship – this applies to Baylor, too – there’s way too much traffic. It would take a slew of upsets along the way – like Auburn beating Alabama, a two-loss Pac-12 champion, and some other twists and turns – to get in.

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There’s an outside shot that Notre Dame can get within shouting distance of the New Year’s Six. At 16, the Irish have to count on No. 15 Auburn to lose to Alabama; hope for No. 14 Baylor to drop another game; expect No. 13 Michigan to lose to Ohio State; expect No. 10 Minnesota or No. 12 Wisconsin to lose when the they play each other – and the winner to lose the Big Ten Championship; get a loss against Ohio State out of No. 8 Penn State; and take advantage of Utah and/or Oregon losing again. The Irish  might be able to move up well into the top eight and have an honest shot at one of the big bowls.

Clemson is the only ACC team in the top 25. There are three American Athletic Conference teams ranked – it’s a rough run for the ACC. Virginia Tech should be in the top 25 somewhere, and it likely will be in the near future, but that’s it for now. There’s no one on Clemson’s schedule currently in the College Football Playoff rankings.

If Alabama wins out …
The known unknown is …
What’s a big win? Top 25 wins
What it all really means

NEXT: If Alabama wins out …