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Takeaways from first College Football Playoff rankings: Oregon holds top spot
The first 2024 College Football Playoff rankings were released on Tuesday night, and the Oregon Ducks have the No. 1 spot, followed by Ohio State at No. 2, Georgia at No. 3 and Miami at No. 4.
When it comes to the actual seeding for the playoff, however, Oregon, Miami, Georgia and No. 9 BYU would have the initial bye weeks into the quarterfinal. BYU would get the bye over Ohio State right now because it would hold the Big 12 automatic bid and the bye that likely comes with that.
Ohio State, the No. 2 ranked team, would not get the bye because Oregon would get the Big Ten bye.
No. 13 SMU and No. 14 Texas A&M would be the first two teams out.
This is the first year of the expanded 12-team playoff, and here is a look at the initial bracket as it would look today.
The first CFP bracket projection with the 12-team playoff era has dropped pic.twitter.com/HXK3syhbEE
— ESPN (@espn) November 6, 2024
Here are the full top-25 rankings.
The full top 25 rankings of the first College Football Playoff reveal of the season ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/6cavXZ0aPy
— ESPN (@espn) November 6, 2024
The first round games would be played with home field advantage for the higher seeded team, and there are some really intriguing possibilities there.
The most exciting of those potential matchups would be Penn State vs. Notre Dame in the No. 7 vs. No. 10 matchup. That would be two of the most high-profile programs in the country, at one of the wildest stadiums in the country, in a playoff game with a potential trip to a national title game on the line.
It would be a similar story with Texas hosting Alabama in the No. 6 vs. No. 11 matchup, and Ohio State hosting a playoff game at Ohio Stadium.
Indiana being in the top-10 might be the biggest surprise from preseason expectations, as well as undefeated Army being in the top-25 at all.
It is important to keep in mind this is just an initial ranking and there is still a lot of football to be played and a lot that can change in the coming weeks.
The big race to watch is going to be in the Big Ten where Oregon and Ohio State are ranked as the top two teams in the country. The winner of that conference is going to get that important bye week into the quarterfinals and right now Oregon is in the driver's seat for that.
The other important thing to keep in mind is that by adding more teams there is not as much emphasis on individual game results. A lot of these top teams that would have been eliminated in recent years with one or two losses are still very much in the running to get in. Sometimes just getting in and getting hot at the right time is all it takes to win a championship.
More must-reads:
- Ohio State receives promising news they had hoped for in first College Football Playoff rankings
- Penn State Playoff Ranking: PSU Slated to Host CFP Game
- The 'Five game-winning-drives in a season' quiz
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Takeaways from Black Friday's biggest college football games: Texas A&M loses chance at SEC championship
There were some important college football games on Friday with massive College Football Playoff implications. Here are some key takeaways from the biggest of those games. Texas A M misses chances at SEC championship No. 3 Texas A M was facing a win-and-in situation for the SEC championship on Friday night, only needing to beat arch-rival No. 16 Texas to clinch its spot in the SEC Championship Game next week. It did not get that win, dropping a 27-17 decision to Texas, and ending its chances at an SEC title for this season. The Aggies loss opens the door for either Alabama or Ole Miss to play for the conference championship against Georgia. If Alabama beats Auburn in the Iron Bowl, it will be Alabama and Georgia meeting next week in Atlanta. If Alabama loses, Ole Miss will play Georgia. The Aggies should still be in good shape for an at-large spot with only one loss, but there are some serious concerns starting to emerge. In Texas A M's last two games against Power Five teams, it barely escaped a 31-30 win against a bad South Carolina team, and then lost by double-digits to Texas on Friday. That is not exactly going into the playoffs playing their best football. Does Texas still have a chance? Now the campaigning is set to begin for the Longhorns as a potential at-large team. The Longhorns have three losses, which would seem to be a big obstacle. But they now have wins over the No. 3 team (Texas A M), the No. 8 team (Oklahoma) and No. 14 team (Vanderbilt), while also having a tough, one-score loss on the road at No. 1 Ohio State to open the season. The Longhorns are going to yell those points from the mountain tops over the next week. But will that be enough to overcome a blowout loss to Georgia and a really bad loss to Florida? We will see. But they are certainly going to campaign for it. Ole Miss, Indiana take care of business Sometimes you have to worry about rivalry games because weird things can happen, even when they seem to be mismatches on paper. But sometimes the more talented team shines and simply dominates. That happened in both No. 2 Indiana's 56-3 rout of Purdue, and No. 7 Ole Miss with its 38-19 win over Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl. Now Ole Miss has to wait for head coach Lane Kiffin's decision on his future on Saturday as well as its chances at an SEC Championship, while Indiana simply has to wait to see if Ohio State will lose to Michigan and allow the Hoosiers to jump over them for the No. 1 ranking going into conference championship week. North Texas gets one step closer to playoff spot With its 52-25 blowout win over Temple, North Texas clinched its spot in the AAC Championship Game and is still very much alive for a playoff spot as the highest-ranked Group of Five conference champion. Now the Mean Green have to watch Saturday's games to see who they will face in the AAC Championship Game. If No. 24 Tulane wins against Charlotte, it will host the AAC Championship Game. But if Tulane loses, the AAC Championship Game will be hosted by North Texas against Navy. No matter what happens on Saturday, or next week, this is still one of the most successful seasons in North Texas program history and the first time it has ever won 11 games in a single season.
Details emerge on Francisco Lindor's alleged incident with Mets teammate
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