Why is Penn State No. 6 in the first College Football Playoff rankings? Lions 'body of work' played a role
Penn State (7-1) is No. 6 in the first College Football Playoff rankings. It is the third highest-ranked one-loss team behind No. 2 Ohio State (7-1), No. 3 Georgia (7-1), and No. 5 Texas (7-1). It is just ahead of No. 7 Tennessee, which is also 7-1. Oregon, which is 9-0, currently holds the top spot. And fellow undefeated team Miami checks in at No. 4. Indiana, BYU, and Notre Dame round out the top 10 at Nos. 8-10, respectively.
It is important to remember now and throughout the next month that a team’s ranking number and its ultimate seeding number may not correspond. That’s because the first four spots are guaranteed to go to the Power Four conference champions. And, if a Group of Five team is not No. 12 or better, then the first 11 will be in, in addition to the highest-ranked G5 team, regardless of where it is ranked. As of Tuesday, Penn State would earn the seventh seed and host No. 10 Notre Dame in a first round game despite being No. 6 in the rankings.
During a news conference with reporters following the initial top 25 reveal, selection committee chair and Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel was asked why the group put the Lions at No. 6 and Volunteers at No. 7.
More: Penn State football plows ahead with past pitfalls looming
“Penn State lost to the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes,” Manuel said. “It was a game that went back and forth, and obviously a game that could have gone the other way. It was back and forth. And so, they have wins over Illinois, and Southern Cal in overtime, opening [season] win at West Virginia, which is difficult to play. So, we look at their body of work; Tennessee has an impressive win over Alabama at No. 11 and wins over North Carolina State and Oklahoma, [and are] 4-1 against teams over .500. The loss at Arkansas was something that we discussed a lot.
Top 10
- 1New
CFP Top 25
First College Football Playoff rankings
- 2Hot
Ben Herbstreit
Kirk Herbstreit asks for prayers
- 3
CFP bracket
12-team bracket after first CFP Top 25
- 4Trending
Dabo denied vote
'They done voted me out of the state'
- 5
Couching Carousel
Intel on potential head coaching moves
And so, looking at the resume, looking at what we’ve seen, the offensive performance [from Penn State], their tight end, Tyler Warren, is a dominating force on offense. And so, I just think Penn State, in terms of their body of work, and what the committee saw in terms of their body of work, that came to the ranking of Penn State at six and Tennessee at seven.”
Full first CFP top 25
1. Oregon
2. Ohio State
3. Georgia
4. Miami
5. Texas
6. Penn State
7. Tennessee
8. Indiana
9. BYU
10. Notre Dame
11. Alabama
12. Boise State
13. SMU
14. Texas A&M
15. LSU
16. Ole Miss
17. Iowa State
18. Pitt
19. Kansas State
20. Colorado
21. Washington State
22. Louisville
23. Clemson
24. Missouri
25. Army
