First College Football Playoff Rankings Released

The first College Football Playoff rankings were released Tuesday night and to no one’s surprise Alabama tops the list. Clemson and Michigan round out the top three but it is the fourth team in the rankings that was the shocker of the night. Texas A&M received the fourth place ranking despite their 33-14 loss against Alabama earlier this year.

Putting the Texas A&M Aggies at four leaves undefeated Washington on the outside looking in ranked at five. College Football Playoff Selection Committee Chairman Kirby Hocutt cited strength of schedule as the reasoning behind the committee’s decision.

Are you surprised by Texas A&M?

Playoff Chairman Kirby Hocutt breaks down how the Aggies earned the No. 4 ranking: https://t.co/Gyqj13n91M

— ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB) November 1, 2016

The Washington Huskies are coming off of a 31-24 win over the Utah Utes. However, the win came in a game that was only the Huskies’ second game against a ranked opponent. Texas A&M, on the other hand, has faced four ranked opponents.

As of now, both the Big 12 and Pac-12 would be left out of the CFP but it should be noted that the season is still very young. In fact, there could be some potential shake-ups in the CFP top-ten after this weekend’s big games. Alabama will travel to Death Valley to take on LSU and Ohio State will host Nebraska. Both of those games will take place at 8 P.M. on Saturday night.

Ohio State is ranked sixth, followed by Louisville at seven, Wisconsin at eight, Auburn at nine and Nebraska at ten.

Gators

The Florida Gators come in at eleven and will look to improve their resumé as they hit the road to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville on Saturday.

Here’s the rest of the CFP Top 25:

First Rankings: #CFBPlayoff Top 25 pic.twitter.com/W9tz3euNNL

— CFBPlayoff (@CFBPlayoff) November 1, 2016