First College Football Playoff rankings show it's a two-conference race
By Max Weisman
The College Football Playoff committee released it's first rankings Tuesday and fans finally got to see what the first 12-team playoff bracket would look like. The committee decided to rank the teams 1-25 and then place the Top 12 on the bracket where they would go. Remember, the top four conference champions will be ranked 1-4 in the bracket no matter where they fall in the 1-25 ranking.
The top four conference champions in the first rankings are Oregon in the Big Ten, Georgia in the SEC, Miami in the ACC and BYU in the Big 12. Obviously, they haven't won their conferences yet, but they are the highest-ranked teams in their respective conferences. Here's what the bracket looks like as of Week 11.
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Looking closely, you'd see that Ohio State is ranked second, but slots in fifth in the bracket. This is because they are in the same conference as Oregon, who gets the Big Ten's top-four spot. After beating Penn State on Saturday, Oregon and Ohio State seem to be on a collision course for a rematch in the Big Ten Championship that could determine who the number one team in the country is. Ohio State still has to get through Indiana, ranked eighth but slotted in ninth in the bracket, in two weeks.
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The bracket is dominated by two conferences, the Big Ten and SEC. Eight of the 12 teams in the first bracket are in those two conferences. Oregon, Georgia, Ohio State, Texas, Penn State, Tennessee, Indiana and Alabama are ranked in the Top 12. Speaking of the Crimson Tide, they play what is essentially an elimination game on Saturday.
No. 11 Alabama plays at No. 15 LSU in Death Valley Saturday night. Both teams have two losses, and a third would kill any chance at making the College Football Playoff. If the winner can win the remainder of its games, they'll likely be seeded 9-12 in the final rankings, unless chaos erupts and they can sneak into the SEC Championship.
With the 12-team playoff, so much can change in just one week, and we very likely will not see the same bracket a week from now, but that's the magic with College Football.
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