The first College Football Playoff rankings came out last night and no surprise the Georgia Bulldogs were ranked #1. From 2-8 there was plenty debate. Assuming Georgia wins it’s next 4 games before the SEC Championship game, I expect the Dawgs to be part of the College Football Playoff even if they lose the SEC Championship game. Alabama came in at number 2, yes Alabama did have that last second loss at Texas A&M but they have beaten a ranked Ole Miss team, ranked Florida on the road and ranked Miami at a neutral site game to start the season, I am mixed are they the #2 team in the country behind Georgia? Michigan State comes in at 3 which just had a huge comeback win at home in East Lansing against in state rival Michigan where the Wolverines were ranked at 6 and the Spartans at 8. So far this is MSU’s best win of the season but if the Wolverines run the table they are defiantly not out of it. Michigan State has a huge game on November 20th at 5th ranked Ohio State in Columbus. Oregon which beat Ohio State head to head on September 11th in Columbus is at 4. Yes Oregon has that bad loss against Stanford but beating Ohio State especially on the road is huge.
Ohio State is at number 5 who currently doesn’t have a marquee win yet, but MSU and Michigan still await them in late November. The Cincinnati Bearcats are at #6 who are yes undefeated but they don’t have a strong strength of schedule despite beating a very good ranked Notre Dame team on the road in South Bend last month. The Bearcats have struggled against weaker competition in recent weeks in there own conference in the American Athletic Conference. I personally would of done Georgia #1, MSU #2, #Oregon #3 and #Cincinnati at #4 for now, Alabama and Ohio State would be my first 2 teams out but there is still plenty of football left. I understand why Michigan is at #7 and Oklahoma at #8 despite the Sooners being undefeated. Sooners have looked really good at times and at other times they have struggled against weaker competition but they have some big games coming up against Baylor and Oklahoma State where both of them are currently ranked.
The Bearcats need to start blowing out teams and make a stronger impression towards the committee to show why they belong in the final four. I personally would of have them at 4 and 5 where right now they have a better resume than Ohio State. Looking at Cincinnati’s schedule it’s possible on November 20th that SMU who is currently undefeated could face the Bearcats where hopefully the Mustangs are ranked and it’s possible they could meet again in the American Athletic Conference Championship game where that game could have some huge implications. Looking at this weeks slate of games the one possible upset I could see is Purdue playing MSU at home but other than that I see the top teams taking care of there business. Let’s what happens this Saturday in College Football.