Oregon, Ohio State, Georgia, Miami lead the 1st CFP rankings

Undefeated Oregon is the No. 1 team in the initial rankings released Tuesday by the College Football Playoff selection committee.

The Ducks were followed by Ohio State, Georgia, Miami and Texas in the top five.

Penn State, Tennessee, Indiana, BYU, Notre Dame, Alabama and Boise State round out the top 12 teams that would compete in the newly expanded playoffs at season’s end.

Because the top four seeds must be conference champions in the new CFP format, Oregon (Big Ten), Georgia (SEC), Miami (ACC) and BYU (Big 12) would receive first-round byes if the initial rankings are used for the would 12 man group.

The first round games would look like this: Boise State vs. Ohio State, Alabama vs. Texas, Notre Dame vs. Penn State and Indiana vs. Tennessee.

Ohio State remains the consensus betting favorite to win the national title on ESPN BET at +325, slightly ahead of Georgia and Oregon, both at +400. After the rankings were published, there were no significant changes to the odds of winning the national title.

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 after Clemson lost its first at home to Louisville last week suffered a second defeat.

Boise State, whose only loss was a three-point loss at Oregon on Sept. 7, was the top-ranked team in a Group of 5 conference.

SMU was ranked No. 13 in the selection committee’s rankings, followed by Texas A&M, LSU, Ole Miss, Iowa State, Pittsburgh, Kansas State and Colorado.

Washington State, Louisville, Clemson, Missouri and undefeated Army rounded out the top 25.

After 10 years with four playoff teams, Warde Manuel, chairman of the CFP selection committee, said the group’s mission has not changed with an expanded group.

“The process is the same,” Manuel said. “We rank the top 25 teams from 1 to 25, and that’s exactly what this process has been designed to do from the start.”

Ohio State, which was coming off an impressive 20-13 win at Penn State last week, earned the nod for second place ahead of Georgia because of its one-point loss at Oregon, according to Manuel. The Bulldogs lost 41-34 at Alabama after trailing by 28 points in the first half and narrower-than-expected wins over Kentucky, Mississippi State and Florida.

Georgia defeated Texas 30-15 on the road on October 19th. The Longhorns were No. 1 in the AP and coaches poll at the time.

“You know, we’re divided when it comes to two great teams,” said Manuel, Michigan’s athletic director.

Indiana, which is 9-0 for the first time in program history after defeating Michigan State 47-10 last week, was one spot ahead of BYU. The Hoosiers have not beaten a ranked opponent and have played the 103rd ranked team to this point. They host defending champion Michigan on Saturday and play at Ohio State on November 23rd.

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

“I mean Indiana, their schedule is not as strong as BYU’s,” Manuel said. “But what Indiana has done on the field when we look at these games is they are winning by double digits and are averaging 33 more points per game than their opponents. They are solid on both sides, offensively and defensively. They’re just a really, really great team, and so is BYU.”

Army (8-0) would have to overtake Boise State to be automatically selected as the fifth-seeded conference champion. The Black Knights have not defeated a ranked opponent. They play Notre Dame on November 23rd at Yankee Stadium in New York City.

The four first-round games will be played on December 20th and 21st at the home campus of the higher seeds. The four quarterfinal games will be in the VRBO Fiesta Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and Rose Bowl presented by Prudential and Allstate Sugar Bowl on December 31 and January 1.

The two semifinal games will take place on January 9th and 10th at the Capital One Orange Bowl and the Goodyear Cotton Bowl.

The CFP National Championship presented by AT&T is scheduled for January 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

ESPN’s David Purdum contributed to this report.