History was made Tuesday when the first-ever College Football Playoff rankings were announced to an eager public that wanted to know their team’s chances at a national title.
If you’re a fan of the SEC West, Tuesday was a good day.
If you’re a fan of Notre Dame, or Marshall — an undefeated program that didn’t even crack the Top 25 — you’re in complete shock.
However, the most important thing to keep in mind while digesting a Top 25 built by 12 people sitting in a closed room for the past 24 hours is that the rankings we’re all discussing today won’t be the same rankings we’ll see during the final poll on Dec. 7.
That’s because there are four SEC West teams ranked in the Top 6 and all of them have to play at least one other member of that group before the season ends. In fact, No. 2 Ole Miss and No. 3 Auburn will play this weekend, which will have a significant effect on the Top 4 just a week after the hullabaloo surrounding these first rankings.
Even though these rankings are fluid, Notre Dame still has to feel a little sick.
Many people thought the Irish would be up in the Top 6 with just one loss against then-No. 1 Florida State, and what many considered one of the toughest schedules in the country at the beginning of the year. However, the Irish are sitting at No. 10 with what is now a middle-of-the-road schedule ahead and several teams around them that could keep pushing the Irish lower.
On the flipside, the Big 12 has to be licking their chops at the though of SEC West cannibalization and two teams — No. 7 TCU and No. 9 Kansas State — on the cusp of getting in. However, those two teams do play each other on Nov. 8. If TCU wins that game, it can strut to the College Football Playoff. If it's Kansas State, well, the Wildcats still have to face Baylor at the end of the regular season. There’s also no doubt that the Big 12 will gain a major advantage by not having one of its better teams picked off in a conference championship game.
While the Big 12 is aligned nicely for a spot in the playoff, so is Michigan State as the highest-ranked representative from the Big Ten at No. 8. The Spartans might have a tough game against Ohio State in a couple weeks, but other than that it’s smooth sailing to the Big Ten title game. However, the pitfall with that is having to play a Nebraska team that’s further down the rankings, but not completely out of the conversation.
The College Football Playoff rankings are a fluid thing so getting upset about them this week is almost a pointless exercise. However, it’s difficult to argue with this first set of rankings. All of the teams in the Top 6 are deserving even if there are a handful of other teams that could be deserving as well. Based on the way these first rankings went, it’s clear the committee is going to let the teams decide their fate, which is a lot better than having some computers do it.
The next five weeks are all about surviving and advancing. It’s an easier task for some than others, but this is what we all wanted.
So far, so good.
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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday
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