College Football Playoff projections: CBS Sports predicts first CFP Top 25 rankings

It’s almost time for the ultimate rankings that will shape the remainder of the college football season — the College Football Playoff rankings.

Ahead of the first edition coming next week on Nov. 1, CBS Sports tried their hand at predicting what they would look like if the rankings were released a week early.

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“The first College Football Playoff Rankings will not be released until Nov. 1 this season, but we do not want to wait that long to look at how the rankings would stand just over midway through the 2022 season,” wrote Jerry Palm of CBS Sports. “We are here to predict what the top 25 would look like if the CFP Selection Committee were making its announcement this Tuesday.

“It is a warmup act for the warmup act, which is every edition of the CFP Rankings before the final one comes out after conference championship Saturday.”

Alas, their rankings look similar to the current Top 25 poll, but if we’ve learned anything over the years we know the College Football Playoff committee is unpredictable. Here’s what CBS Sports would go with if they were in charge.

College Football Playoff Projections, via CBS Sports:

1. Georgia Bulldogs
2. Ohio State Buckeyes
3. Tennessee Volunteers
4. Clemson Tigers
5. Michigan Wolverines
6. TCU Horned Frogs
7. Alabama Crimson Tide
8. Oklahoma State Cowboys
9. Oregon Ducks
10. Penn State Nittany Lions
11. USC Trojans
12. UCLA Bruins
13. Ole Miss Rebels
14. Syracuse Orange
15. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
16. LSU Tigers
17. Utah Utes
18. North Carolina Tar Heels
19. Illinois Fighting Illini
20. Kentucky Wildcats
21. Tulane Green Wave
22. Oregon State Beavers
23. NC State Wolfpack
24. South Carolina Gamecocks
25. Kansas State Wildcats

As you can see, CBS Sports has Georgia, Ohio State, Tennessee and Clemson as their current College Football Playoff teams, with Michigan and TCU just missing the cut. Arguably their most shocking prediction is Alabama falling to No. 7, but the Crimson Tide will have plenty of time to make their case over the rest of the season.

Regardless, it’s almost time to start thinking about the College Football Playoff, and teams will begin to separate themselves from the pack over the coming weeks. Fascinating times are ahead of us as college football fans.