College Football Playoff Committee Releases First Rankings

The College Football Playoff Committee released its first rankings for the 2016-2017 season Tuesday.

The top-3 rankings were as expected, with unbeaten Alabama, Clemson and Michigan leading the field. The big surprise came with one-loss Texas A&M leapfrogging unbeaten Washington.

The committee views A&M’s one loss to top-ranked Alabama and difficult conference schedule as an advantage over Washington.

“In the committee’s mind, Texas A&M has played a stronger schedule,” said committee chairman Kirby Hocutt.

The selection committee also gave the edge to Clemson over Michigan, opposite from both the AP and Amway Coaches poll, because of the Tigers’ wins over No. 9 Auburn, No. 22 Florida State and No. 7 Louisville.

The top four teams that will compete in the playoffs will be revealed in the final ranking on December 4th. The semifinals will be held at the Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl on December 31st, and the championship game will be played in Tampa, Fl on January 9th.

The committee consists of:

• Kirby Hocutt, director of athletics at Texas Tech University
• Barry Alvarez, director of athletics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Jeff Bower, former head coach at the University of Southern Mississippi
• Herb Deromedi, former head coach at the University of Central Michigan
• Tom Jernstedt, former NCAA executive vice president
• Bobby Johnson, former head coach at Vanderbilt University
• Jeff Long, vice chancellor and director of athletics at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville
• Rob Mullens, director of athletics at the University of Oregon
• Dan Radakovich, director of athletics at Clemson University
• Condoleezza Rice, Stanford professor, former Stanford provost and former United States secretary of state
• Steve Wieberg, former college football reporter for USA Today
• Tyrone Willingham, former head coach of three FBS institutions

The current CFPC Top 25:

1. Alabama (8-0)
2. Clemson (8-0)
3. Michigan (8-0)
4. Texas A&M (7-1)
5. Washington (8-0)
6. Ohio State (7-1)
7. Louisville (7-1)
8. Wisconsin (6-2)
9. Auburn (6-2)
10. Nebraska (7-1)
11. Florida (6-1)
12. Penn State (6-2)
13. LSU (5-2)
14. Oklahoma (6-2)
15. Colorado (6-2)
16. Utah (7-2)
17. Baylor (6-1)
18. Oklahoma State (6-2)
19. Virginia Tech (6-2)
20. West Virginia (6-1)
21. North Carolina (6-2)
22. Florida State (5-3)
23. Western Michigan (8-0)
24. Boise State (7-1)
25. Washington State (6-2)