Oregon leads College Football Playoff rankings with SEC dominating top 25

Admin November 6, 2024

There was history made Tuesday with the release of the first College Football Playoff rankings in the era of an expanded 12-team format.

There was no drama with the team at No. 1 with Oregon holding down the top spot — the same position it occupies in the US LBM Coaches Poll.

What was uncertain heading into these first rankings was which team would follow the Ducks. Georgia and Ohio State both had strong cases with respective road wins against Texas and Penn State and narrow road losses to Alabama and Oregon. The committee went with the Buckeyes from the Big Ten at No. 2 and the Bulldogs at No. 3.

Miami, one of two ACC unbeatens, comes next after the top three followed by Texas. Completing the top 10 are, in order: Penn State, Tennessee, Indiana, Brigham Young and Notre Dame.

It’s unsurprising that the SEC leads all conferences with eight teams in the rankings. Alabama is just outside the top 10, while LSU, Texas A&M and Missouri are in the back half of the rankings. ACC is second with five teams. The Big Ten has four teams — all among the top 10. Also checking in with four teams is the Big 12. No other league has multiple representatives.

No. 12 Boise State is the highest-ranked team from the Group of Five conferences, 13 places ahead of No. 25 Army. The highest-ranked champion among the G5 leagues will secure at least one position in the playoff field. The Broncos could be in good position to earn a first-round bye should they finish ahead of one of the champions from the Power Four. BYU is the only Big 12 team ahead of them in the rankings and only Miami from the ACC leads them.

This is the first of five rankings by the College Football Playoff committee. The next three will come each Tuesday ahead of the final weekend of the season. The decisive rankings will be Sunday, Dec. 8, when the 12 teams in the field and the playoff bracket is announced.

What is the College Football Playoff schedule?

The top four conference champions in the final rankings will receive a bye. First-round games will be played on campus sites with No. 5 hosting No. 12, No. 6 facing No. 11, No. 7 meeting No. 10 and No. 8 squaring off with No. 9.

Winners of those games will advance to the quarterfinals at the Fiesta, Sugar, Peach and Rose bowls. Those games will be played either Dec. 31 or Jan. 1. The Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl will host the semifinals on Jan. 9 and Jan. 10, respectively.

The championship game will be played on Jan. 20 in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.