Clemson No. 1 in first CFP rankings, Gators No. 10

Right: No beef here with one-loss Alabama being at No. 4, even if comes off as more of the same old Crimson Tide idolatry. While something like that may happen sometime in the future, this year, at least, we may have something even better. “It all depends on how we play”.

If it was up to College Football Playoff leaders, there would be no weekly ranking – only one at the end of the season.

The team that may have the most outcry at being left out of the top 10 is Memphis. That’s the same Memphis that is 8-0 and owns a 13-point victory over Mississippi – an Ole Miss team that won at Alabama and that the committee ranked 18th. A loss now can be catastrophic as far as getting to the football version of the Final Four. Clemson puts that shiny new ranking on the line against Florida State this weekend. Why isn’t Baylor in the top four? LSU and Alabama square off Saturday night. That was enough to earn them a No. 5 ranking from the 12-person committee. They also both have high-quality wins over Notre Dame and Florida, respectively.

Remember, the committee showed a year ago it does not lock teams into positions.

A quick look at those rankings gives us a clue as to why the Irish are ranked so highly – their lone loss was a two point loss, on the road, in a monsoon, with a rookie QB to the #1 team in the country.

Long said it was hard to judge the strength of those teams because their big games are still to come. A loss could cost the Tigers a trip to the ACC Championship and potentially ruin their bid for a College Football Playoff appearance. Like everyone else in the Big 12, the Frogs move to the proving ground beginning this weekend. They would do themselves well to get a few big wins in the games leading up to the Stanford game to gain momentum coming into that game.

Baylor, again, played a terribly weak nonconference schedule, and Oklahoma State did the same. Just like Baylor, their wins haven’t been close. If they lose, they are out of the picture. At No. 14, Oklahoma State was the lowest-ranked undefeated Power 5 team. So you can see that no team in the Big 12 has an easy path. A loss to either of those teams will surely keep them out of the final four. The Spartans have a road win over Michigan (better than any Ohio State win) and has non-conference wins over Oregon and Air Force (better than any Ohio State non-con win), yet Michigan State is No. 7 and Ohio State is No. 3?

That brings us to the current Big Ten West leader, Iowa. Whoever ends up undefeated and the (singular) champion, should make in that top four easily. If they win the Championship game, they still aren’t a lock for the playoff due to their strength of schedule. The committee rewarded them with a spot at 10th. And they are 10-0 under coach Bob Stoops against Iowa State, winning those by an average margin of 40-8. Suffer a loss though, and they could be in trouble.

Kelly reiterated he was trying to control his sideline when he aggressively approached Grimes, who appeared to be speaking to an official, and grabbed him by the jacket and pushed him multiple times. The top four teams qualify for the two semifinal games, which will be held at the Orange and Cotton bowls on December 31. If they win out, they are nearly a lock to get in.

Well, the Big Ten is happy, as it’s almost guaranteed to have a representative in the College Football Playoff.

There are still five weeks left of the regular season and then conference championships.