College Football Playoff rankings announced, Alabama No. 1

Let the debates begin.

The first College Football Playoff ranking was announced today, and there are a couple of surprises that may cause some fans to break out their pitchforks. Relax, people (I’m looking at you, Washington).

Strength of schedule was a huge factor in the College Football Playoff Selection Committee’s decision, and was a theme in the conversation during the selection show. As it has been in previous years without the playoff system, it seems that losing a game isn’t a death sentence to have an opportunity to play for a national championship.

Here is a look at the initial College Football Playoff rankings.

No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide

Alabama is no surprise as the top team in the nation in this official ranking. Not only is it one vote away from being a unanimous No. 1 team in the AP Poll, it has been DESTROYING ranked teams since the beginning of the season. The Crimson Tide’s impressive resume includes dominating wins over ranked USC, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas A&M. Still, they need to be careful whom they lose to if they fall. The selection committee places a lot of value on conference championships, and a loss against LSU or Auburn could kill their chances of playing in the title game and the national semi-finals.

No. 2 Clemson Tigers

Coming up behind the Crimson Tide are the Clemson Tigers. They are also undefeated, with wins against Louisville when they were the No. 3 ranked team in the AP Poll and more recently completed a huge comeback win against Florida State. While they have won against good competition, they haven’t won in the dominating fashion that Alabama has, which probably resulted in being No. 2 in the College Football Playoff ranking. Clemson had its most difficult game this past week against Florida State. No more ranked teams stand in their way until potentially the ACC championship. If the Tigers can win out, they will be in a national semi-final game.

No. 3 Michigan Wolverines

The selection committee decided that the Michigan Wolverines deserved the honor of being in the initial playoff picture. The Wolverines are undefeated, but they don’t have enough big wins against ranked teams that would wow the committee into having them jump ahead of either Clemson or Alabama. They do have a 14-7 win against Wisconsin in Week 5 and a 45-28 win against now ranked Colorado, but their strength of schedule simply isn’t good enough to compete with the top two teams. The Wolverines can’t afford a loss en route to their season finale against Ohio State.

No. 4 Texas A&M Aggies

Rounding out the last of the initial playoff teams is a bit of a surprise with the Texas A&M Aggies. They are the only team with a loss of the first four teams in the playoff race, but being in the SEC has its benefits. The Aggies, lost against Alabama in Week 7, but were able to notch wins against previously undefeated Tennessee and No. 17 Arkansas in SEC play. The Aggies are in the same situation as Michigan. A loss against their weaker backend opponents will give them two losses and knock them down significantly in the rankings.

First two out

No. 5 Washington Huskies

The Washington Huskies are the Rodney Dangerfield of this first ranking. The Pac-12 isn’t looked at with as much respect as the SEC or Big 10, and Washington’s exclusion from the first playoff ranking is a reflection of that. They destroyed Stanford, which was ranked No. 7 at the time, 44-7, and just won against ranked Utah. The silver lining for the Huskies is now they have a little extra motivation to prove themselves the selection committee. However, one-loss against a Pac-12 opponent will likely end their playoff chances.

6. Ohio State Buckeyes

Urban Meyer’s crew is on the outside looking in, but they have plenty of opportunity to move up. That loss against Penn State is a killer, but they have CFP No. 10 Nebraska up next and they can really help their chances by knocking off Michigan in the final regular game of the season. But they also need a lot of help. In addition to winning against Michigan, they need Penn State to lose so they can play in the Big Ten Championship Game.

The rest of the pack: 

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