Grades for every spot in first College Football Playoff rankings
The CollegeFootballPlayoff selection committee has submitted itsfirstrankings of the season, setting the table for the schools which will make the 12-team field. Now it’s time to grade its answers.
The initial top 25 gave insight into how the selection committee views the season so far with the final full month underway. Of course, some teams are in spots that are make sense based on 10 weeks of play, but that’s not the case with everyone. Whether it’s quality of wins or amount of losses, there are questions.
Some squads are rightfully in great or bad shape, while others should feel lucky or on the wrong end of the stage.
Here are the grades for every single College Football Playoff ranking in the Nov. 4 release:
1. Ohio State: B-
The defending champions have looked near perfect this season, but the Buckeyes don’t have the best resume in the country amongst the undefeated teams. Their wins against teams in the rankings are defeats of No. 11 Texas and No. 23 Washington.
2. Indiana: C-
The Hoosiers are indeed a top two team in the country, but they aren’t No. 2. Indiana has road wins at No. 9 Oregon and No. 20 Iowa, which are far more impressive than Ohio State’s ranked wins.
3. Texas A&M: A+
4. Alabama: A+
Forget the season-opening loss to Florida State; the Crimson Tide have four ranked victories that thrust them into a deserved spot.
5. Georgia: A+
Another team in the correct spot, the Bulldogs lose the head-to-head advantage to Alabama. But they do have a wins against Mississippi and Tennessee.
6. Mississippi: C
Lane Kiffin’s team should be behind a Georgia team it lost to, but it’s ahead of an undefeated team when it really only has one quality win at Oklahoma. Plus, Mississippi had close calls with Washington State and Arkansas.
7. Brigham Young: D
The Cougars should feel disrespected they are behind Mississippi, as it feels like they haven’t proved enough. If BYU beats Texas Tech, can it jump up at all?
8. Texas Tech: B-
The lone blemish from Arizona State is what puts Texas Tech behind BYU, but even with the win over Utah, it’s questionable to put the Red Raiders at this spot.
9. Oregon: C
It seems like the overtime win over Penn State doesn’t mean as much, which is unfortunate cause that version of the Nittany Lions is different than the team they currently are. The Ducks aren’t in a favorable spot.
10. Notre Dame: A
The Fighting Irish’s two losses at the start of the season came against great opponents, and the win over Southern California continues to look better.
11. Texas: B+
Rightfully above Oklahoma, Texas started to shed the loss at Florida with a dominant showing against Vanderbilt.
12. Oklahoma: A-
Michigan maintaining good standing helps Oklahoma stay in playoff consideration, and the road win over Tennessee put the Sooners in position to have strong finish.
13. Utah: D+
The only losses came against the two top teams in the Big 12 and they’ve beaten quality teams, but the Utes don’t have a ranked win to justify being above ACC teams.
14. Virginia: C+
Sure, the overtime win against North Carolina and loss to North Carolina State weren’t helpful, but owning a win at Louisville is far more impressive than some of the wins the teams above Virginia have.
15. Louisville: A
The Cardinals should be behind Virginia and the win at Miami is a quality mark to have. They probably need to get to the ACC title game to find way into field.
16. Vanderbilt: A-
While quite a turnaround is going with Vanderbilt, it doesn’t go up too high with not as many quality wins as once thought.
17. Georgia Tech: B-
A rather intriguing case given it just suffered its first loss. The Yellow Jackets have looked rather good, but just like Virginia, a loss to North Carolina State wasn’t great when it doesn’t have any strong wins.
18. Miami: B-
It’s been a free fall for Miami, but the win over Notre Dame seems like it got wiped out when it’s a top 10 win, something teams ahead of the Hurricanes don’t have.
19. Southern California: B+
The Trojans have to really enjoy their spot as it keeps playoff hopes alive. The dominant win over Michigan is good but the Illinois loss continues to worsen despite how close it was.
20. Iowa: F
21. Michigan: B-
It was ugly in the games Michigan lost. Luckily, a convincing win over Washington has kick-started a run that helps the Wolverines stay ranked.
22. Missouri: C+
Another team rewarded for having close losses against ranked teams when Missouri’s best win came against 5-4 Kansas.
23. Washington: B-
It appears beating Illinois helped the Huskies get ranked, which is odd given it didn’t look like a ranked team against Michigan.
24. Pittsburgh: A
The Panthers got some surprising love even though there really isn’t anything notable. Yet five consecutive wins should get most teams at least ranked.
25. Tennessee: F
Yes, Tennessee’s three losses came against top 12 teams. But a three-loss team with no notable wins shouldn’t be ranked over a worthy Group of Five team.
