College Football Playoff Releases First Rankings of 2015

By Kevin Kelley -

The College Football Playoff Selection Committee released their first set of Top 25 rankings for 2015 tonight and the Clemson Tigers are number one.

Clemson is followed by LSU in 2nd, Ohio State in 3rd, and Alabama in 4th. Just outside the top four are Notre Dame in 5th and Baylor in 6th.

College Football Playoff Rankings (Nov. 3)

1. Clemson
2. LSU
3. Ohio State
4. Alabama
5. Notre Dame
6. Baylor
7. Michigan State
8. TCU
9. Iowa
10. Florida
11. Stanford
12. Utah
13. Memphis
14. Oklahoma State
15. Oklahoma
16. Florida State
17. Michigan
18. Mississippi
19. Texas A&M
20. Mississippi State
21. Northwestern
22. Temple
23. UCLA
24. Toledo
25. Houston

The College Football Playoff Selection Committee will release their Top 25 rankings each week on Tuesday through Dec. 1.

On Sunday, Dec. 6 at Noon ET, the College Football Playoff Selection Committee will announce the Selection Day bowl pairings and Playoff Semifinal pairings.

CFP Rankings Release Schedule

  • Nov. 3 – 7pm ET, ESPN
  • Nov. 10 – 7pm ET, ESPN
  • Nov. 17 – 9:30pm ET, ESPN
  • Nov. 24 – 7pm ET, ESPN
  • Dec. 1 – 7pm ET, ESPN
  • Dec. 6 – Noon ET, ESPN (Selection Day and Playoff Semifinal teams announced)

2015-16 Bowl Schedule

Comments (16)

Wow! Clemson number #1. So the committee feels that Clemson & LSU are the top two teams. Very well.

I had 1.) Iowa, 2.) Clemson, 3.) LSU, 4.) Michigan State, 5.) Notre Dame, 6.) Utah, 7.) Stanford, 8.) Alabama, 9.) TCU, 10.) Florida

Made a mistake, which I re-commented below. Here it is again IMO, based on the criteria of who have you played, and calling into play amount of Power 5 teams you’ve played.

1.) Iowa, 2.) Clemson, 3.) LSU, 4.) MSU, 5.) tOSU, ND, Stanford, Utah, Alabama, TCU, Florida, Baylor

**** My mistake. Revised rankings below.
so 1) Iowa, Clemson, LSU, MSU, tOSU, ND, Stanford, Utah, Alabama, TCU, Florida, Baylor

This is somewhat surprising, seeing the schedules that each still have remaining. I guess an Alabama win over LSU and a SEC championship (figuring somebody in the SEC beats Mississippi) would at least land Alabama in the playoffs again.

Yes, if Alabama can beat #2 LSU, @ #20 Miss St, @ Auburn then beat #10 Florida in ATL I would say their in. If Ole Miss runs the table then not really sure what happens, depending on how many teams lose in front of them I guess, plus with two loses may not look good.

I have no issues with Cardale Jones, I just think the team responds better with JT Barrett at the QB spot.

Iowa? Not only undefeated, but they’ve beaten 6-2 Pitt (only other loss to 7-1 UNC), 7-2 Wisconsin (only other loss to 7-1 Alabama), and 6-2 Northwestern (beat 7-1 Stanford, only other loss to 6-2 Michigan)

Michigan State? Not only undefeated, but they’ve beaten 6-2 Michigan, 5-3 Oregon, 5-3 Air Force)

I honestly believe if you take out wins against FCS & weak Group of 5 teams AND eliminate those games from the records of Power 5 teams, then people will see that Iowa and Michigan State are two of the most underrated teams in the country, who have played arguably the toughest schedules to date, along with Clemson and LSU.

My top 4 were Iowa, Clemson, LSU and Michigan State.

Here are the real top 12 rankings:
** Note, these will change based on success of teams each week **

1.) Iowa 8-0 – beat 6-2 Pitt (only other loss to 7-1 UNC), beat 7-2 Wisconsin (only other loss to 7-1 Alabama), baet 6-2 Northwestern (beat 7-1 Stanford, only other loss to 6-2 Michigan)

2.) Clemson 8-0 – beat 7-1 ND (beat 6-1 ND, beat 7-1 Temple, beat 5-3 USC), beat 5-3 Miami Fl (beat 6-2 Duke, lost to 7-1 Florida), beat 5-3 NC State

3.) LSU 7-0 – beat 7-1 Florida (beat 6-2 Ole Miss), beat 6-2 Miss State (only other loss to 6-2 Texas A&M)

4.) Michigan State 8-0 – beat 6-2 Michigan (beat 6-2 Northwestern and 6-2 BYU, only other loss to 7-1 Utah), beat 5-3 Oregon (lost to 7-1 Utah), beat 5-3 Air Force (lost to 6-1 Navy)

5.) Memphis 8-0 – beat 6-2 Ole Miss (beat 7-1 Alabama, only other loss to 7-1 Florida) beat 6-2 Bowling Green (only other loss to 4-4 Tennessee)

6.) Ohio Sate 8-0 – beat 7-2 Penn State (only other loss to 7-1 Temple)

7.) ND 7-1 – lost to 7-1 Clemson, beat 5-3 USC (beat 7-1 Utah, lost to 7-1 ND and 5-3 Washington), beat 7-1 Temple (beat 6-2 Penn State), beat 6-1 Navy

8.) Stanford 7-1 – lost to 6-2 Northwestern (beat 6-2 Duke, lost to 8-0 Iowa and 6-2 Michigan), beat 6-2 UCLA (beat 6-2 Utah, only other loss to 4-4 ASU), beat 5-3 Washington State, beat 5-3 USC (see above), beat 5-4 Arizona

9.) Florida 7-1 – lost to 7-0 LSU (see above), beat 6-2 Ole Miss (beat 7-1 Alabama, only other loss to 8-0 Memphis)

10.) Alabama 7-1 – lost to 6-2 Ole Miss (lost to 8-0 Memphis and 7-1 Florida), beat 6-2 Wisconsin (only other loss to 8-0 Iowa), beat 6-2 Miss State (only other loss to LSU)

11.) Utah 7-1 – lost to 5-3 USC (lost to 7-1 ND), beat 6-2 Michigan (see above), beat 5-3 Oregon (see above) beat 5-3 Cal

12.) TCU 8-0 – beat 5-4 Texas Tech
13.) Baylor 8-0 – beat 5-4 Texas Tech
14.) Oklahoma State 8-0 – beat 5-4 Texas Tech

So who thinks after this weekends games that it will be…
1)Clemson 2)Ohio State 3)Alabama 4)LSU

and who thinks it will be…
1)Clemson 2)Alabama 3)Ohio State 4)LSU

And who thinks it will be different then these…

I understand people luv to scream SEC bias but there is no way LSU is in top 4 after that performance.

Day,
I will be shocked if the rankings are not 1) Clemson 2) Alabama 3) Ohio State 4) LSU. Worst case scenario, LSU is #6.

And it’s a travesty, because the SEC is nowhere near as good as those rankings. An unbiased ranking should look something closer to the below. Unfortunately, it won’t.
1) Clemson – best win ND/FSU
2) Iowa – best win NW/Wisc/Pitt
3) Ohio State – best win Penn St
4) OK State – best win TCU/Texas Tech
5) ND – best win Temple/Pitt/Navy/USC
6) Alabama – best win LSU/Wisc/Georgia
7) Stanford – best win USC/UCLA/Washington State
8) Utah – best win Michigan/Oregon
9) Baylor – best win Texas Tech
10) MSU – best win Michigan/Oregon/Air Force
11) LSU – best win Miss State/Florida
12) Oklahoma – best win Tenn/Texas Tech
13) Houston – best win Louisville/Cincinnati
14) TCU – best win Texas Tech
15) Florida – best win Georgia/Tenn
16) Michigan – best win BYU/Northwestern
17) Navy – best win Memphis/Air Force/USF
18) UNC – best win Pitt/Duke
19) Temple – best win Penn State/Cincinnati
20) Northwestern – best win Stanford/Duke
22) Memphis – best win Ole Miss/Bowling Green/Cincinnati/USF
23) Florida State – best win Miami/Louisville/USF
21) Wisconsin – best win N/A
24) Miss State – best win N/A
25) USC – best win Utah