Oregon, Ohio State, Georgia and Miami top CFP rankings – Orange County Register

EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer

A season full of surprises didn’t bring many surprises when the first set of rankings were released Tuesday heading into the new 12-team College Football Playoff.

Undefeated Oregon received a perfect rating. The selection committee liked Ohio State slightly better than top-25 Georgia, the first of six weekly polls the 13-member selection committee will conduct.

Otherwise, the group’s top 12 looked exactly like the top dozen in the latest AP poll, which changed almost weekly due to a series of upsets that left the mighty SEC of all conferences without a single undefeated team.

The committee saw what most of the country saw this year: With a 9-0 record, five Big Ten wins by three or more touchdowns and a key win over Ohio State, coach Dan Lanning’s Ducks are the best in league. country.

Ohio State, Georgia and Miami are ranked No. 2, 3 and 4, respectively, as the march begins toward the Dec. 8 rankings that will be used to seed teams in the bracket. Alabama is ranked No. 11, the only two-loss team ranked in the top 12 in the poll, which mirrors the latest AP poll in every position except No. 2 and No. 3, where the Buckeyes and Bulldogs swapped places. “

“We’re taking a very hard look at two great teams,” said Michigan athletic director Ward Manuel, who chairs the selection committee, citing Ohio State’s one-point loss to Oregon versus Georgia’s seven-point loss to the team. Tide. The Bulldogs lost at Alabama 41-34 after trailing by 28 points in the first half and posted closer-than-expected wins over Kentucky, Mississippi State and Florida. On October 19, Georgia defeated Texas 30–15. The Longhorns were ranked No. 1 in the AP poll at the time.

Ratings do not directly correlate with where teams will end up in the table. The four top-ranked conference champions receive a first-round bye, which according to this ranking will belong to No. 1 Oregon (Big Ten), No. 3 Georgia (SEC), No. 4 Miami (ACC) and No. 9 BYU (Big 12). .

The remaining teams in the fictional Week 1 bracket and their rankings are: No. 5 Texas, No. 6 Penn State, No. 7 Tennessee, No. 8 Indiana and No. 10 Notre Dame.

Boise State finished No. 12, matching its seeding in the Mountain West Conference championship bracket.

“Boise State is an impressive team,” Manuel said.

The committee ranked Alabama No. 11 among several one-loss teams, but the Tide’s strong schedule clearly helped them edge out teams like No. 13 SMU, No. 17 Iowa State and No. 18 Pitt, who play weaker teams. conferences.

First-round games played Dec. 20-21 at the top seed’s home court will be Boise State at Ohio State, Alabama at Texas, Notre Dame at Penn State and Indiana” with Tennessee.

The four quarterfinals will be played at the Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, Arizona), Peach Bowl (Atlanta), Rose Bowl (Pasadena) and Sugar Bowl (New Orleans) on December 31 and January 1. The semi-finals will take place on December 31 and January 1. will be played at the Orange Bowl (Miami) and Cotton Bowl (Arlington, Texas) on January 9 and 10, with the national championship game scheduled for January 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

The SEC and Big Ten each had four teams in the top 12. Undefeated BYU is the only Big 12 program in the top 12, and undefeated Miami is the only ACC team in the top 12 after Clemson suffered its second loss last week to Louisville. Houses.

Indiana, which is 9-0 for the first time in program history after beating Michigan State 47-10 last week, is one spot ahead of BYU. The Hoosiers have yet to beat a ranked opponent and are currently ranked 103rd. They will host defending national champion Michigan on Saturday and play at Ohio State on November 23.

The Cougars are 8-0 heading into Saturday’s matchup with rival Utah. They won 18-15 at SMU and crushed Kansas State 38-9 at home.