The College Football Playoff selection committee has once again raised eyebrows among fans with its first attempt at its rankings this season.
Undefeated Miami received top billing in the committee’s opening crack at the rankings Tuesday, followed by Georgia and undefeated Utah.
But their rankings from there sparked confusion with a host of questionable picks.
Defending champion Indiana was ranked fourth – eight spots ahead of Ohio State, which beat the Hoosiers 19-15 last month but has since lost quarterback Julian Sayin.
At No. 5 was Alabama – eight spots ahead of Tennessee, even though the Tide is only a few weeks removed from a 16-point loss to the Vols. At No. 6 was Kentucky, followed by Texas.
UCLA, the nation’s only other undefeated team, was ranked eighth.
Undefeated Miami received top billing in the committee’s first College Football Playoff rankings
At No. 5 was Alabama, even though they have had a disappointing start to the season
Notre Dame was ranked 11th but the committee wasn’t overly impressed with their schedule
Notre Dame was ranked 11th – seven spots lower than their spot in the AP Top 25 – and it’s believed they must beat Miami on Saturday or risk slipping out due to a schedule that clearly did not impress the committee.
‘A very, very good football team,’ committee chair Hunter Yurachek said of Notre Dame. ‘But when you look at Notre Dame’s schedule and the wins they have versus the teams ahead of them, they don’t have that signature win right now.’
Ohio State was ranked 12th, but would be on the outside looking in because Boise State, ranked 25th, would get the Group of Six automatic bid.
Fans took to social media to vent their fury at the rankings, with one describing the system as ‘broken.’
They commented: ‘Broken. Need equal representation from committee members from all four power conferences as a base plus other representation from non four power conferences. Fix that and rankings will make more sense!’
Another added: ‘Might be the worst ranking we’ve ever seen. Truly remarkable how dumb these people of power are.’
A third replied: ‘Alabama and Texas in the top ten is actually insane.’
A fourth added: ‘If you want to know why stadiums are empty and TV ratings are down, look no further than these rankings. The whole thing is a farce that nobody with a brain is taking seriously.’
‘Might be the committee’s worst work of all time,’ another unhappy fan declared.
This is the first of six rankings that will be revealed – one every Tuesday until the brackets are set on December 6. The playoffs start with four games on the campus of seeds 5-8 on December 18-19. The final is January 25 in Las Vegas.
In addition to Miami-Notre Dame, key games this week include BYU at Utah for a leg up in the Big 12 race. Alabama visits No. 14 LSU in a game that will hand one contender its third loss.
Also, the Kentucky-Tennessee game will either hand the Wildcats their second loss or the Vols their third.
Among the biggest questions was how the selection committee would treat the SEC, which features six teams with two losses, two with one loss and no undefeated teams, but also accounts for 13 of the nation’s current 20 toughest schedules.
They answered by naming a nation-leading 10 of its teams to their list of 25, even if the way they were positioned raised eyebrows.
‘This has been such a crazy football season, filled with unbelievable parity through the first eight weeks,’ Yurachek said.
‘But you look at the matchups this weekend. We believe as a committee there will be a significant amount of movement within the entire top-25 ranking.’
Also, the SEC’s gain was the ACC’s loss. The next ACC team after Miami was Wake Forest, ranked 16th. The Demon Deacons have only one loss, to the Hurricanes themselves, but can control their fate by winning their way to a rematch with Miami in the title game.
