The College Football Playoff committee released its first official rankings of the season on Tuesday night, placing the undefeated Miami Hurricanes at No. 1.
Miami’s top ranking came after a tense win over Bill Belichick’s North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday night. Quarterback Darian Mensah, wide receiver Malachi Toney and running back Mark Fletcher Jr. helped the Hurricanes pull away in a back-and-forth second half to stay unbeaten.
Rounding out the top five are No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Utah, No. 4 Indiana and No. 5 Alabama.
Indiana’s spot in the top five comes after a wild escape against Minnesota on Halloween. Minnesota kicker Luke Drzewiecki hit a 60-yard field goal to put the Golden Gophers ahead 16-13 with just 19 seconds left in regulation. Indiana answered when its own kicker, Paddy McAteer, matched the 60-yard try to force overtime, where the Hoosiers, coached by Curt Cignetti, pulled out the win to move to 8-1 on the season. Indiana is the reigning national champion but does carry a loss to Ohio State this year.
The rest of the top 12, which represents the field if the playoff started today, is No. 6 Kentucky, No. 7 Texas, No. 8 UCLA, No. 9 BYU, No. 10 Ole Miss, No. 11 Notre Dame and No. 12 Ohio State.
However, Ohio State would actually miss the 12-team bracket under this week’s rankings. The format guarantees spots for five conference champions, and No. 25 Boise State, a Group of Five team, would take Ohio State’s place in that scenario.
Ohio State has been playing with backup quarterback Luke Fahey since starter Julian Sayin went down with a serious throwing-arm injury and is now sidelined indefinitely. The Buckeyes lost to USC 30-18 over the weekend. USC debuted at No. 20 in the rankings.
Miami-Notre Dame Looms Large
Notre Dame sits just outside the current top 12 at No. 11, and its matchup against top-ranked Miami this Saturday could reshape the picture. A win over the Hurricanes would be a marquee result for the Fighting Irish, who currently have no wins over a ranked team and no other ranked opponents left on their schedule.
CFP committee chair Hunter Yurachek, the athletic director at Arkansas, explained the committee’s thinking on Notre Dame during ESPN’s rankings show.
“They are a very good football team,” Yurachek said. “But when you look at Notre Dame’s schedule, and the wins that they have versus the teams that are ahead of them, they don’t have that signature win right now.”
The Rest of the Field
Teams on the playoff bubble looking to climb include No. 13 Tennessee, No. 14 LSU, No. 15 Texas Tech and No. 16 Wake Forest. Houston, Missouri, Iowa and USC fill out spots 17 through 20.
The remainder of the top 25 includes No. 21 South Carolina, No. 22 Arizona, No. 23 Oregon, No. 24 Florida and No. 25 Boise State.
These rankings are only the first of the season and are expected to shift significantly in the coming weeks as teams like Miami, Notre Dame and Ohio State play out their remaining schedules.
