March 28, 2024

Georgia, Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson top 1st CFP rankings

Iowa State rings in at No. 15

Iowa State’s football team is ranked No. 15 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings of 2017.

It marks the first time since the College Football Playoff was instituted in 2014 the Cyclones appeared in the CFP rankings.

Iowa State, currently tied for first in the Big 12 standings at 4-1 and 6-2 overall, has been the talk of college football with its current four-game winning streak.

Iowa State’s victories over Oklahoma and TCU both occurred when the teams were ranked in the AP Top-5, more than doubling its career total of wins against top-5 opponents.

The Cyclones’ 4-1 conference start is the best five-game start in school history.

Iowa State, ranked No. 14 in this week’s AP Top-25 poll, will travel to West Virginia (5-3, 3-2 Big 12) this weekend. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT.

A couple of games played during week two of the season had a major effect on the first College Football Playoff rankings.

Georgia, Alabama, Notre Dame and Clemson were the top four teams in the selection committee’s initial top 25 released Tuesday night.

Oklahoma, Ohio State and Penn State were next as the committee members let head-to-head results and strength of schedule be their guide. The final rankings that will determine the participants in the College Football Playoff semifinals come out Dec. 3.

Georgia and Alabama, Southeastern Conference rivals, are both 8-0 and have been dominating their competition. The Bulldogs’ one close game was at Notre Dame in September, a 20-19 victory.

Committee chairman Kirby Hocutt, the athletic director for Texas Tech, said the Bulldogs had a slight edge over the Crimson Tide because of its victory against the Irish on Sept. 9.

The Fighting Irish (7-1) have not lost since, including blowouts of Michigan State (24th), Southern California (17th) and North Carolina State (20th). Hocutt noted those three victories against teams in the committee’s top 25, along with the close lose to Georgia as the reason for the Irish being the highest ranked in a group of one-loss teams from three to seven.

“The teams ranked three through seven are very evenly matched,” Hocutt said.

On the same night Georgia beat Notre Dame, Oklahoma went to Columbus, Ohio, and beat the Buckeyes 31-16.

“For the teams five through seven, their head-to-head results were very important to the committee,” Hocutt said.

Ohio State (7-1) rallied to beat Penn State (7-1) last Saturday, 39-38.

In the AP Top 25, Ohio State was No. 3, Penn State No. 7 and Oklahoma was No. 8. Those rankings had some Sooners wondering if the committee would do something similar. They were happy to find out that was not the case.

“We all just watched it as a team just now,” Oklahoma linebacker Ogbonnia Okoronkwo said. “We were all just jumping around yelling. Everybody’s hungry. We feel like our foot’s in the door, so we want to go ahead and make it happen.”

Clemson (7-1), the defending national champion, and Alabama have been ranked in the initial top four of the by the selection committee each of the last three seasons. The Tigers and Tide played for the last two national titles, with each winning one.

Over the first three seasons of the playoff, a total of five teams have been ranked in the top four of the initial ranking and gone on to reach the semifinals: Florida State (which was second) in 2014; Clemson (first) and Alabama (fourth) in 2015; and Alabama (first) and Clemson (second) in 2016.

The rest of the top 10 was TCU at eight, followed by unbeatens Wisconsin and Miami.

Hocutt pointed to strength of schedule as the problem for the Badgers, who were ranked fourth in the latest AP Top 25, and Hurricanes. The strongest team Wisconsin has defeated is Northwestern (5-3) and Miami has only two victories against teams with winning record, Hocutt noted.

College Football Playoff Rankings

Team Record

1. Georgia 8-0

2. Alabama 8-0

3. Notre Dame 7-1

4. Clemson 7-1

5. Oklahoma 7-1

6. Ohio St. 7-1

7. Penn St. 7-1

8. TCU 7-1

9. Wisconsin 8-0

10. Miami 7-0

11. Oklahoma St. 7-1

12. Washington 7-1

13. Virginia Tech 7-1

14. Auburn 6-2

15. Iowa St. 6-2

16. Mississippi St. 6-2

17. Southern Cal 7-2

18. UCF 7-0

19. LSU 6-2

20. NC State 6-2

21. Stanford 6-2

22. Arizona 6-2

23. Memphis 7-1

24. Michigan St. 6-2

25. Washington St. 7-2

The College Football Playoff Selection Committee will issue weekly rankings each Tuesday, with the final rankings being announced Sunday, Dec. 3 (Noon EST). The playoff semifinals will match the No. 1 seed vs. the No. 4 seed, and No. 2 will face No. 3. The semifinals will be hosted at the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 2018. The championship game will be played on Jan. 8, 2018 at Atlanta.