Mr. CFB: Ohio State No. 1 In The First CFP Rankings. But Will The Buckeyes Stay There?

No. 2 Georgia, the two-time defending CFP nationall champions, could catch Ohio State with a closing stretch that includes No. 10 Ole Miss, No. 12 Missouri, No. 17 Tennessee and possibly No. 8 Alabama.

Georgia has been ranked No. 1 in the human polls for the better parrt of two years.  The Bulldogs have won 25 straight games and two consecutive national championships.

But it wasn’t enough for the Bulldogs to grab the No. 1 spot when the first set of College Football Playoff rankings  were released on Tuesday night.

The reason the committee went with Ohio State at No. 1 was simple: Ohio State (8-0), to this point has the best wins with a 17-14 win at No. 15 Notre Dame on Sept. 23 and a 20-12 win over No. 11 Penn State on Oct. 21.

Georgia, which is now playing without its best player, tight end Brock Bowers, does not have a win over a ranked team. That is about to change as the Bulldogs host No. 12 Missouri this Saturday and then plays No. 10 Ole Miss on Nov. 11 in Athens. The Bulldogs also go to No. 17 Tennessee on Nov. 18. Should the Bulldogs reach the SEC championship game on Dec. 2, it is possible the opponent could be No. 8 Alabama.

It’s going to be a wild November as No. 1 Ohio State plays at No. 3 Michigan on Nov. 28.

No. 5 Washington beat No. 6 Oregon 36-33 at Seattle back on Oct. 14, but they may meet again in the Pac-12 championship game on Friday, Dec. 1.

The SEC, which was allegedly going though a "down" season has three teams in the Top 10—No. 2 Georgia, No. 8 Alabama, and No. 10 Ole Miss—plus No. 12 Missouri, and No. 14 LSU.

The rankings will be released each Tuesday on ESPN. The final rankings and pairings for the four-team College Football Playoffs will be released at Noon on Sunday, Dec. 3.

This will be the final season of the four-team playoff. Next season the playoffs grow to 12 teams with the top four teams receiving byes in the first round.

This season's semifinals will be played in the Rose and Sugar Bowls on Jan. 1, 2024. The national championship game will be on Jan. 8 in Houston.

Here is the Top 10 from the first CFP Standings with the games each team has remaining. 

FIRST CFP STANDINGS

Top 10 teams with games remaining

1—Ohio State (8-0): at Rutgers, Michigan State, Minnesota, at Michigan

2—Georgia (8-0): Missouri, Ole Miss, at Tennessee, at Georgia Tech

3—Michigan (8-0):  Purdue, at Penn State, at Maryland, Ohio State

4—Florida State (8-0): at Pittsburgh, Miami , North Alabama, at Florida

5—Washington (8-0):  at USC, Utah, at Oregon State, Washington State

6—Oregon (7-1):  California, USC, at Arizona State, Oregon State

7—Texas (7-1): Kansas State, at TCU, at Iowa State, Texas Tech

8—Alabama (7-1): LSU, at Kentucky, Chattanooga, Auburn

9—Oklahoma (7-1): .at Oklahoma State, West Virginia, at BYU, TCU

10—Ole Miss (7-1): Texas A&M, at Georgia, ULM, at Miss, State