First CFP rankings have Georgia at top, but rest of top eight somewhat surprising

The first set of College Football Playoff rankings were released Tuesday night, and they were … well, they were interesting.

As expected, Georgia was No. 1. But not much else was expected, especially one-loss Oregon being ranked fourth – four spots ahead of unbeaten Oklahoma. Unbeaten Cincinnati, trying to become the first Group of 5 team to make the Playoff, is sixth, behind two teams from the Big Ten and two from the SEC.

The top 10: Georgia at the top, with fellow SEC member Alabama second; they are followed by, in order, Michigan State, Oregon, Ohio State, Cincinnati, Michigan, Oklahoma, Wake Forest and Notre Dame. Georgia, Michigan State, Cincy, Oklahoma and Wake Forest are the unbeaten teams in the top 10.

Ohio State still has to play Michigan and Michigan State, and Alabama and Georgia presumably will meet in the SEC Championship Game. Oklahoma, meanwhile, still must play the teams ranked 11^th (Oklahoma State) and 12^th (Baylor).

Head-to-head results obviously mattered to the committee. Seven of the top 12 have lost one game, and four of those losses came to other teams in the top 12. In every case, the team that won is ahead. To wit: No. 4 Oregon beat No. 5 Ohio State; No. 3 Michigan State beat No. 7 Michigan; No. 6 Cincinnati beat No. 10 Notre Dame; and No. 11 Oklahoma State beat No. 12 Baylor. Alabama lost to two-loss Texas A&M, which is 14^th this week, while Oregon (to Stanford) and Oklahoma State (to Iowa State) lost to teams who are outside the CFP top 25.

There is just one ranked team outside the top 12 with one loss, and that is No. 24 San Diego State. The Aztecs fell to two-loss Fresno State — and Fresno State is No. 23 this week.

There will be five more sets of CFP rankings; they will be released on each of the next four Tuesdays, while the final rankings will be released Sunday, December 5.

Looking ahead

Here are the remaining schedules for this week’s top 12 teams in the College Football Playoff rankings.

1. Georgia (8-0): Saturday vs. Missouri; November 13 at Tennessee; November 20 vs. Charleston Southern; November 27 at Georgia Tech.

2. Alabama (7-1): Saturday vs. LSU; November 13 vs. New Mexico State; November 20 vs. Arkansas; November 27 at Auburn.

3. Michigan State (8-0): Saturday at Purdue; November 13 vs. Maryland; November 20 at Ohio State; November 27 vs. Penn State.

4. Oregon (7-1): Saturday at Washington; November 13 vs. Washington State; November 20 at Utah; November 27 vs. Oregon State.

5. Ohio State (7-1): Saturday at Nebraska; November 13 vs. Purdue; November 20 vs. Michigan State; November 27 at Michigan.

6. Cincinnati (8-0): Saturday vs. Tulsa; November 13 at USF; November 20 vs. SMU; November 27 at East Carolina.

7. Michigan (7-1): Saturday vs. Indiana; November 13 at Penn State; November 20 at Maryland; November 27 vs. Ohio State.

8. Oklahoma (9-0): November 13 at Baylor; November 20 vs. Iowa State; November 27 at Oklahoma State.

9. Wake Forest (8-0): Saturday at North Carolina; November 13 vs. NC State; November 20 at Clemson; November 27 at Boston College.

10. Notre Dame (7-1): Saturday vs. Navy; November 13 at Virginia; November 20 vs. Georgia Tech; November 27 at Stanford.

11. Oklahoma State (7-1): Saturday at West Virginia; November 13 vs. TCU; November 20 at Texas Tech; November 27 vs. Oklahoma.

12. Baylor (7-1): Saturday at TCU; November 13 vs. Oklahoma; November 20 at Kansas State; November 27 vs. Texas Tech.

Looking back

Here’s where the eventual four teams in the College Football Playoff field were in the first set of rankings each season. The teams are listed by how they were seeded in that season’s four-team field.

2020: Alabama 1st, Clemson 3rd, Ohio State 4^th, Notre Dame 2^nd.

2019: LSU 2nd, Ohio State 1st, Clemson 5th, Oklahoma 9^th.

2018: Alabama 1st, Clemson 2nd, Notre Dame 4th, Oklahoma 7^th.

2017: Clemson 4^th, Oklahoma 5th, Georgia 1st, Alabama 2nd.

2016: Alabama 1st, Clemson 2nd, Ohio State 6th, Washington 5^th.

2015: Clemson 1st, Alabama 4th, Michigan State 7th, Oklahoma 15^th.

2014: Alabama 6th, Oregon 5th, Florida State 2nd, Ohio State 16^th. (Mississippi State was No. 1 and finished No. 7.)

The committee members

There is a 13-person committee. The chairman is Iowa athletic director Gary Barta. The other members: Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart, former journalist/current professor Paola Boivin, Wyoming AD Tom Burman, Georgia State AD Charlie Cobb, NC State AD Eugene “Boo” Corrigan, Colorado AD Rick George, former player Will Shields, Kansas State AD Gene Taylor, former coach/current Virginia Union AD Joe Taylor, former player John Urschel, former player Rod West and former coach Tyrone Willingham.

Their task is to rank a top 25 and select the top four for the College Football Playoff semifinals. They also assign teams to the New Year’s Six bowls; the six bowls are the Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose and Sugar, two of which serve as semifinal sites each season.

There are contractual obligations for the Orange (the highest-ranked ACC team not in the Playoff meets the highest-ranked available team from the SEC, Big Ten and Notre Dame), Rose (the highest-ranked teams from the Big Ten and Pac-12 that are not in the Playoff) and Sugar (the highest-ranked teams from the Big 12 and SEC that are not in the Playoff). The Sugar has priority over the Orange when it comes to an SEC participant; the same with the Rose over the Orange when it comes to a Big Ten participant.