College Football Playoff Committee Unveils Inaugural Top 25, Buckeyes Lead Undefeated Field.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 12, 2024 – New York, NY – The College Football Playoff (CFP) selection committee released its initial rankings for the 2024 season on Tuesday, positioning the Ohio State Buckeyes as the nation’s No. 1 team. The Buckeyes, maintaining an unblemished record, lead a contingent of three undefeated teams at the top, with the Indiana Hoosiers ranked No. 2 and the Texas A&M Aggies securing the No. 3 spot. This initial unveiling sets the stage for a competitive chase towards the newly expanded 12-team playoff field, culminating in the CFP National Championship presented on January 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

The Southeastern Conference (SEC) demonstrated its perennial strength early in the rankings, immediately following the Aggies with three formidable programs. The Alabama Crimson Tide, a consistent playoff contender, landed at No. 4, followed by the Georgia Bulldogs at No. 5, and the Ole Miss Rebels rounding out the top six. This strong showing by the SEC, which ultimately placed nine teams within the Top 25, underscores the conference’s depth and competitive landscape.

Rounding out the top 10 are the BYU Cougars at No. 7, the Texas Tech Red Raiders at No. 8, the Oregon Ducks at No. 9, and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at No. 10. The highest-ranked team from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is Virginia, positioned at No. 14. Notably, every team included in this initial Top 25 hails from one of the Power 4 conferences (SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big 12), illustrating the committee’s current assessment of competitive balance. As per the new format, the committee designated the Memphis Tigers as the top team from the Group of 5 conferences, a crucial distinction given the playoff expansion.

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This year’s CFP format introduces significant changes, expanding the field to 12 teams. The five highest-ranked conference champions will automatically secure berths, with the remaining seven spots awarded to at-large selections based on the committee’s final rankings. A pivotal tweak to the structure involves a straight seeding model. The top four teams in the final ranking, irrespective of whether they are conference champions, will receive a coveted first-round bye, a distinct advantage in the expanded playoff bracket. This new seeding mechanism emphasizes overall team strength and performance throughout the regular season.

Under this new framework, if the playoff were to commence today, the hypothetical first-round matchups would present intriguing contests. The Memphis Tigers, as the top Group of 5 representative, would travel to face the Georgia Bulldogs. The Virginia Cavaliers would be slated to play the Ole Miss Rebels. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish would head west to challenge the BYU Cougars, and the Oregon Ducks would journey to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders. These potential matchups highlight the geographical and stylistic diversity that the expanded playoff aims to bring.

The SEC’s nine teams in the Top 25 led all conferences, reaffirming its dominance in college football. The Big Ten followed with seven ranked teams, showcasing its consistent competitive depth. The ACC secured five spots, while the Big 12 had three teams in the initial rankings. This distribution provides an early indicator of conference strength and potential for playoff representation.

A notable narrative unfolding in the initial rankings involves the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Despite holding a 7-2 record with two losses, the independent program finds itself in a favorable position at No. 10, indicating a strong possibility of making the CFP as an at-large team for the second consecutive season. Their resume includes a significant victory over No. 19 USC. Crucially, both of Notre Dame’s losses occurred in the opening weeks of the season, falling in the closing minutes to then-No. 3 Texas A&M and then-No. 18 Miami. The committee’s ranking suggests that the timing and nature of these narrow defeats against highly-ranked opponents are being weighed favorably.

In contrast, the Miami Hurricanes, also with two losses and holding a head-to-head victory over the Irish earlier in the season, are ranked significantly lower at No. 18 – eight spots behind Notre Dame. This disparity is largely attributable to Miami’s recent 26-20 overtime loss to SMU this past weekend. While the Hurricanes boast more notable victories overall, their recent setback appears to have significantly impacted their standing, placing them on the outside of the current 12-team field. This scenario mirrors last year’s season, where late-season losses derailed Miami’s playoff aspirations despite strong early performances.

The Texas Longhorns, currently ranked No. 11, present another compelling case. Despite quarterback Arch Manning and the team demonstrating occasional inconsistencies throughout the season, a decisive victory over No. 16 Vanderbilt and a dominant 23-6 win over Oklahoma last month have bolstered their position. The head-to-head win against the Oklahoma Sooners, who are ranked No. 12 with an identical 7-2 record, is a critical differentiating factor that the committee has clearly prioritized, placing Texas one spot higher. This highlights the committee’s emphasis on direct competition between teams with similar records.

Further down the rankings, the Utah Utes are positioned at No. 13. The Virginia Cavaliers, as the top ACC team, hold the No. 14 spot, followed closely by the Louisville Cardinals at No. 15. The Cardinals possess a significant win over Miami but sustained a loss to the Cavaliers earlier in the season, demonstrating the intricate web of head-to-head results that influence these rankings.

The remainder of the Top 25 includes Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, Miami, USC, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Washington, Pitt, and Tennessee. Notably, the Tennessee Volunteers are the sole three-loss team to be included in this initial ranking, suggesting the committee views their overall strength of schedule and quality of wins/losses highly enough to warrant inclusion.

The road to the CFP National Championship will intensify in the coming weeks. The final CFP rankings are scheduled to be announced on December 7, the day after the critical conference championship games are played, which will determine several automatic qualifiers and influence seeding.

The newly formatted playoff schedule outlines a rigorous path for contending teams. The four first-round games will be hosted at the home campuses of the higher-seeded teams, providing a unique atmosphere for these crucial early matchups, and are slated for December 19 and 20. The four quarterfinal games will then transition to traditional Bowl Season venues, being played at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl Game Presented by Prudential, and the Allstate Sugar Bowl on December 31 and January 1. The two semifinal games will follow, hosted by the VRBO Fiesta Bowl and the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on January 8 and 9. Ultimately, the season will culminate with the CFP National Championship presented on January 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, where the 2024 national champion will be crowned.