The first College Football Playoff Rankings of the 2019 season have been released by the selection committee, and the Ohio State Buckeyes open in first place.
Ohio State is followed by LSU (2), Alabama (3), and Penn State (4). Clemson (5) and Georgia (6) are just outside the top five, and just behind are two Pac-12 teams — Oregon (7) and Utah (8).
Cincinnati (20th) is currently the highest ranked team from a Group of Five conference. Four other teams are just behind the Bearcats — Memphis (21), Boise State (22), Navy (24), and SMU (25). Check out the full CFP Top 25 rankings below.
College Football Playoff Rankings (Nov. 5)
1. Ohio State
2. LSU
3. Alabama
4. Penn State
5. Clemson
6. Georgia
7. Oregon
8. Utah
9. Oklahoma
10. Florida
11. Auburn
12. Baylor
13. Wisconsin
14. Michigan
15. Notre Dame
16. Kansas State
17. Minnesota
18. Iowa
19. Wake Forest
20. Cincinnati
21. Memphis
22. Boise State
23. Oklahoma State
24. Navy
25. SMU
The College Football Playoff Selection Committee will release their Top 25 rankings each week on Tuesday through Dec. 3. Below is the schedule of dates (all times Eastern):
- Tuesday, Nov. 5 – 9pm
- Tuesday, Nov. 12 – 7pm
- Tuesday, Nov. 19 – 7pm
- Tuesday, Nov. 26 – 7pm
- Tuesday, Dec. 3 – 7pm
On Sunday, Dec. 8 at Noon ET, the College Football Playoff Selection Committee will announce the Playoff Semifinal pairings and semifinal bowl assignments. Those will be followed by the pairings for the remainder of the New Year’s Six bowl games.
Best case scenarios for each conference:
ACC: Winner of Clemson-Wake Forest wins ACC title
Big 12: Winner of Baylor-Oklahoma wins Big 12 title
Big Ten: OSU and Minnesota remain unbeaten through November, leading to a “quarterfinal” at the B1G title game
Pac-12: Oregon VS. Utah for conference title
SEC: Winner of Alabama-LSU plays Georgia for conference title
I think the odds of a non title winning team making the Playoff is now over 50%. If Auburn behaves itself and does not beat its higher ranked opponents (Georgia and Alabama) we should get 2 SEC or maybe 2 Big 10 teams. With Georgia now ranked 6th and Oregon and Utah at #7 and #8 the odds are long. First Notre Dame and the Big 12 are outside the Top 7.
The LSU / Alabama loser will fall but I suspect unless one team looks awful, to number 5. The week after if Ohio State beats Penn St they are ranked around 7 to 10. If Ohio St loses a close game then I see them falling only to number 5 or 4. Going into the Conference Championship weekend I see 1. Undefeated SEC team, 2. Undefeated B10 Team 3. Undefeated Clemson 4. Ohio St or One Loss LSU / Alabama 5. One Loss Georgia. 6. One Loss Penn State or Oregon, or maybe Baylor or Minnesota if they are still undefeated finally with some wins over ranked teams. SEC Conference winner if LSU/Alabama winner or Georgia and one loss LSU/Alabama loser would be in. PAC 12 winner might only have one ranked team win over the PAC 12 championship loser, maybe a currently unranked PAC 12 will make the rankings.
Today I see a 67% chance a Non Conference Winning team making the playoff with Clemson winning out.
Order or Playoff Rankings / Making Playoffs Priorities:
1st. Undefeated SEC Champ LSU
2nd. Undefeated Big Ten Champ Ohio St
3rd. Undefeated Big 12 Champ Baylor
4th. Undefeated Big Ten Champ Minnesota
5th. Undefeated ACC Champ Clemson
6th. 1 loss Big Ten Champ Ohio State
7th. 1 loss Big Ten Champ Penn State
8th. 1 Loss SEC Champ Georgia
9th. 1 loss PAC 12 Champ Oregon
10th. 1 loss Big 12 Champ Oklahoma
11th. 1 loss SEC Runner-up LSU
12th. 1 loss Big Ten runner-up Ohio St
13th. 1 loss Big Ten Runner-up Penn St
14th. 1 loss Big 12 Champ Baylor
15th. 1 loss PAC 12 Champ Utah
16th. 1 loss Big Ten Champ Minnesota
17th. 1 loss Alabama
18th. 1 loss Ohio St
19th. 1 loss Penn State
New/Updated Playoff Rankings:
1. LSU
2. Ohio State
3. Clemson
4. Alabama
5. Georgia
6. Oregon
7. Utah
8. Oklahoma
9. Minnesota
10. Penn State