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The first College Football Playoff rankings have been released, and the reigning champions are atop the pack.
The Ohio State Buckeyes are ranked first as ESPN unveiled the projected 12-team bracket on Tuesday night. The 2024 champions, who defeated Notre Dame in the championship game earlier this year, have been stellar with an 8-0 start to no one’s surprise.
But perhaps one of the best storylines this season comes from the No. 2 team in the rankings — the Indiana Hoosiers. Head coach Curt Cignetti’s group has been phenomenal to start the year, and they’re leading the Big Ten with a 9-0 record behind the play of Heisman candidate quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
Rounding out the top four seeds, who will all get a bye in the first round of the CFP, are No. 3 Texas A&M and No. 4 Alabama.
The SEC is represented well in these debut rankings, as Georgia comes in at No. 5, followed by Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss Rebels at No. 6.
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Rounding out the top 10 are BYU, the No. 7 team that leads the Big 12 with a perfect 8-0 record, Texas Tech, Oregon and the Fighting Irish at No. 10.
Notre Dame may have lost its first two games of the season, but the Irish have ripped off six straight wins as an at-large team. Their first two losses came against the Aggies and No. 18 Miami in their opener.
Speaking of the Hurricanes, they have the same number of losses as the Fighting Irish, but their recent overtime loss to SMU dropped them in the rankings.
Right on the cusp is Arch Manning and the Texas Longhorns at No. 11, especially given the team’s win over No. 16 Vanderbilt, while the No. 12 Oklahoma Sooners are close as well.
Given that each Power Four conference needs a representative, Virginia — the leaders in the ACC — comes in at No. 14. With all top 25 teams coming from a Power Four conference, the CFP committee had Memphis as the top team from the Group of Five.
However, this isn’t the same format as previous college football seasons, as the committee is using a straight seeding model this time. The top four teams in the final ranking, no matter what conference they play in, will receive a first-round bye.
With the current rankings, Memphis would face Georgia, Virginia would play Ole Miss, Notre Dame would travel to BYU, and Oregon would take on Texas Tech.
Of course, this is just the first of many rankings to come. The bracket will be finalized on Dec. 7, the day after the conference championship games.
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