Collegeโ Football Playoff Rankings Released: Ohio State Claims No. 1โข Spot
IRVING, Texas -โข Ohio State has been selected as the โno. โค1 team inโ the inauguralโข College Football Playoff rankings, released Tuesday byโค the 12-person committee. The Buckeyes are followed by Indiana, Texas A&M, and Alabama too โround โขout theโ top four, setting โขthe stage for a perhaps dramaticโ finish to the season.
Thisโค initial ranking isโ the first of six weeklyโฃ releases, culminating on december 6th with the final selections โthat willโค determine โคtheโค 12-team โplayoff bracket. The expanded playoff format,a notable shift in the landscape of college football,aims to increase access to postseason competition andโ heighten excitement among fans. The tournament will kick off December 19-20 with fourโค games hosted by the teams seeded fifth through eighth. The top four seeds will receive a first-round bye, competing over the New Yearโฃ holiday,โฃ withโข the national championship โgame scheduled โfor January 19th at Hard โRock Stadium near Miami.
Texas Tech holds the No. 8 position,โ with Oregon at No. 9. Notre dame, Texas, and Oklahoma complete the top 12. However,under the new playoff rules,conference champions receive automatic bids. As an inevitable result,even if ranked lower,the five highest-ranked conference champions are guaranteed aโค spot. Currently, this means that Texas and โoklahomaโ would โbe excluded from the playoff ifโฃ the season ended today, yielding spots toโฃ Virginiaโฃ of the โAtlantic coast Conference and Memphis of the American Athletic Conference.
Memphis currently leadsโฃ allโ Group of 5 conferences in โthe โrankings, despite not being in the committee’s initial top 25. teams like Vanderbilt (rankedโข 16th) and Georgia Tech (ranked 17th)โค remain hopeful, having both achieved Top 10 status in the AP Poll earlier โin the season through a seriesโข of unexpectedโฃ upsets.