The first round of College Football Playoff rankings have been released. Here’s the instant reaction for each of the committee’s picks for the top 25.
College Football Playoff Rankings Top 25 Reaction
– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
So did the College Football Playoff committee pass the test? How did it do on its first round of rankings?
Pretty good.
I’ll nitpick below through each of the top 25 picks, but for the most part the committee did its job to provide a good snapshot of where things are at. Remember, this isn’t done like the other polls. This is a meticulous process with a pick-by-pick debate for each spot.
There might be disagreements and inconsistencies, but there’s no questioning the effort.
As always, this is all about the final set of rankings. Did you win your Power Five conference championship? Did you finish unbeaten or with one loss? Do that, and you almost certainly in.
And with that, a reaction and breakdown of each spot in the College Football Playoff top 25 rankings …
25. UCF Knights 6-2
The committee starts out with a big miss. This feels shoehorned in. UCF beating Cincinnati is fine, but it lost to at home to Louisville and got whacked a few weeks ago by East Carolina. Florida State beat Louisville, beat CFP 10 LSU, and the three losses were fights against NC State, Clemson, and Wake Forest.
24. Texas Longhorns 5-3
This doesn’t really make sense. The committee is giving WAY too much credit to a close-call 20-19 loss to Alabama, because there’s nothing else. Beating a Dillon Gabriel-less Oklahoma shouldn’t get a ton of love, and the loss to Texas Tech – along with the 5-3 record – should’ve been a bit too much to get into the top 25.
23. Oregon State Beavers 6-2
And so begins the theory that the the College Football Playoff committee completely neglected to watch the Pac-12 so far. Now the wins over Boise State and Fresno State look outstanding, the loss to USC came at the last second, and beating Washington State isn’t bad. The 42-16 loss at Utah shouldn’t be that big of a punishment – the Beavers should be hovering around the top 20.
22. NC State Wolfpack 6-2
The committee really, really, really doesn’t like teams with injured quarterbacks – Devin Leary is out. Granted, there isn’t a great win on the slate other than taking down Florida State, but losing at Clemson and Syracuse is too much of a punishment. The Pack should’ve been ranked ahead of …
21. Wake Forest Demon Deacons 6-2
There’s no real credit given to giving Liberty its only loss and there isn’t enough of a push for beating a CFP-disrespected Florida State on the road. The turnover-fest 48-21 loss to Louisville last week hurt – it would’ve been in the top 15 had it won.
