Breaking Down the First College Football Playoff Rankings

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The College Football Playoff committee has shared its first rankings of this weird season. Here they are:

1. Alabama
2. Notre Dame
3. Clemson
4. Ohio State
5. Texas A&M
6. Florida
7. Cincinnati
8. Northwestern
9. Georgia
10. Miami
11. Oklahoma
12. Indiana
13. Iowa Sate
14. BYU
15. Oregon
16. Wisconsin
17. Texas
18. USC
19. North Carolina
20. Coastal Carolina
21. Marshall
22. Auburn
23. Oklahoma State
24. Iowa
25. Tulsa

Some thoughts:

1) Whereas the latest AP Poll has Ohio State over Clemson, the committee has Clemson ranked third. This doesn't ultimately matter because if both teams win their conference title game, they are in the playoffs. However, it does show that the committee hasn't dinged Clemson as much for losing to Notre Dame without Trevor Lawrence.

2) The committee likes Northwestern more at No. 8 than the AP Poll, which has them at No. 1. The Wildcats beat Wisconsin this past week. The committee also likes Georgia better at No. 9 than the AP poll, which has them at No. 13. On the flip side, Oregon is ranked No. 9 in the AP Poll but No. 15 by the committee, so that's a pretty big drop-off.

3) Coastal Carolina at No. 20 with the committee and No. 16 in the AP Poll is another disparity.

4) Here are OutKick founder Clay Travis's thoughts before the committee announced their rankings:






































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Ryan Glasspiegel grew up in Connecticut, graduated from University of Wisconsin-Madison, and lives in Chicago. Before OutKick, he wrote for Sports Illustrated and The Big Lead. He enjoys expensive bourbon and cheap beer.