The first batch of 2021 College Football Playoff rankings are out. Here’s the instant reaction for each of the committee’s picks for the top 25.
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The first round of the 2021 College Football Playoff rankings are out. How did the committee do?
The CFP committee goes pick by pick by pick, meticulously debating and scrutinizing each spot. There’s a thought process behind every part of the ranking.
Before breaking down every pick …
No UTSA. In a bit of a stunner, the unbeaten Roadrunners – with a win over Illinois on the road – weren’t thrown a bone and didn’t make the Top 25 cut.
The one other whiff … Arkansas. If you’re going to give love and respect to 3-loss Wisconsin, then Hog wins over Texas and Texas A&M – and acceptable losses to Georgia, Ole Miss, and Auburn – should’ve been enough for the top 25.
No American Athletic Conference teams got in besides Cincinnati. Houston? SMU? Nope. Outside of a few Mountain West teams, the committee just thunder-dunked on the Group of Five schedules.
Apparently, the committee really, really paid attention to the schedules. It punished teams that didn’t have a slew of big wins over top teams, and it didn’t over-love the teams with just one great victory and not much else.
This isn’t bad. There’s always some nitpicking with these things, but as the opening run of the College Football Playoff rankings go, this was a strong first effort.
These get thrown out and it all starts over next week. Did you win your Power Five conference championship? Did you finish unbeaten or with one loss? That’s all that really matters. And with that, the reaction of every top 25 slot in the first College Football Playoff Rankings of 2021.
College Football Playoff Rankings Top 25 Reaction
25. Pittsburgh Panthers 6-2
The committee must of loved the wins over Tennessee and Clemson, but there wasn’t much of a punishment for losing to Western Michigan. It’s fine, but 8-0 UTSA probably should’ve slipped in here.
24. San Diego State Aztecs 6-1
This is all about the win over Utah. Beating Arizona isn’t that big of a deal, but it’s a Power Five road victory – there isn’t a whole lot more to go off of. The committee likely loved the great defense, and again, gave credit for the win over the Utes.
23. Fresno State Bulldogs 7-2
This is too low. It’s good that the committee got Fresno State in, and 23 really is fine considering one loss was to Hawaii in Honolulu, but the other loss was to Oregon. Winning at UCLA was good, beating Nevada was sneaky-great, and being the team that handed San Diego State its first loss was big.
22. Iowa Hawkeyes 6-2
Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, okay, but this one is a bit rough considering how bad the Iowa offense is. The road win over Iowa State by ten and the victory over Penn State appeared to be enough to sneak the Hawkeyes in.
21. Wisconsin Badgers 5-3
This is a TON of love being given to one win over Iowa. For the committee, though, it’s about the team as a whole, and it has to like one of the best defenses in America for a team on a four-game winning streak. This one’s a tad questionable, though.
NEXT: College Football Playoff Rankings Reaction, Top 20
College Football Playoff Rankings Reaction, Top 20
20. Minnesota Golden Gophers 6-2
Bowling Green 14, Minnesota 10 … apparently it didn’t happen. Nothing to see here. The only other loss was to Ohio State, and the great win came against … Purdue? That’s it. There’s absolutely nothing else on the resumé. Maryland? Nebraska? It’s a good top 25 in all, but this is the one whiff.
19. NC State Wolfpack 6-2
It’s an interesting ranking considering Pitt is at 25. The losses to Miami and Mississippi State are more acceptable than the Panther loss to Western Michigan, but there aren’t a slew of great wins. Beating Clemson in overtime is nice, but that’s about it.
18. Kentucky Wildcats 6-2
You can see the committee’s process with some of this – like ranking Iowa right behind Wisconsin. They debate each spot, and reason that two teams belong in a general area, and then go with the head-to-head from there. The wins over Florida and LSU might have been enough to put UK in the top 15, but …
17. Mississippi State Bulldogs 5-3
The 31-17 win over Kentucky just happened. The loss to Memphis was weird – bad punt return call, close game – and losing to LSU hurt, but the win at Texas A&M and the victories over UK and NC State overcame the losses. However … Arkansas has three-losses, too, and they were more acceptable.
16. Ole Miss Rebels 6-2
The committee almost never gives credit for two acceptable losses, but it did that here – to a point. The Rebels should be a little higher considering the losses were on the road to Alabama and Auburn, and the wins over Arkansas, Tennessee, and LSU were all solid.
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15. BYU Cougars 7-2
BYU rolled through the Pac-12 teams on the slate – going 4-0 against Arizona State, Utah, Washington State, and Arizona – but there’s one massive problem. The College Football Playoff committee gave absolutely no love or respect to the Pac-12 – others than Oregon.
14. Texas A&M Aggies 6-2
Texas A&M 41, Alabama 38 … Texas A&M 41, Alabama 38 … Texas A&M 41, Alabama 38 … Texas A&M 41, Alabama 38 … that’s all. If the committee is going to love Alabama enough to put it No. 2, then … Texas A&M 41, Alabama 38 … it’s A&M’s only decent win, but it’s a biggie.
13. Auburn Tigers 6-2
Good job, College Football Playoff committee. It gave the appropriate respect for what that loss to Penn State was at the time, was cool with the loss to Georgia, and respected the wins over Ole Miss, LSU, and Arkansas.
12. Baylor Bears 7-1
It could be argued that the ranking probably should be higher than Notre Dame considering the win over 15th-ranked BYU along with wins over Texas and Iowa State. It doesn’t really matter that much – the Bears will realistically be in if they win out, just like it is for …
11. Oklahoma State Cowboys 7-1
The Cowboys have the win over the Bears, but the loss to Iowa State on the road in a close battle was enough to keep them out of the top 25. Like Baylor, as long as Oklahoma wins out – which probably means beating Oklahoma twice – everything will be fine.
NEXT: College Football Playoff Rankings Reaction, Top 10
College Football Playoff Rankings Reaction, Top 10
10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish 7-1
I’m not going to lie – I’m a little stunned. I thought the committee would’ve fallen in deep love with a schedule full of solid wins. The Irish will keep moving up with wins, but there are two massive problems. 1) There’s a hard Cincinnati ceiling they won’t be able to push through, and 2) if Cincinnati loses, that makes the one loss look worse.
9. Wake Forest Demon Deacons 8-0
Okay … fine … cool. Where’s the good win? At Virginia? That’s okay. At Syracuse? At Army? There’s not a whole lot of meat on this bone, but the Style Points Don’t Count thing doesn’t apply here, because the committee apparently loves all the big numbers and big offensive production.
8. Oklahoma Sooners 9-0
WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. Okay, interesting. Give credit to the Grapevine 13 for watching the games, but it’s a bit stunning that the lone 9-0 team trending up with Caleb Williams didn’t get higher than this.
It doesn’t matter. 13-0 Big 12 Champion Oklahoma is 100% absolutely going to get into the CFP. 12-1 Big 12 Champion Oklahoma is 92ish% absolutely going to get into the CFP. However, it should’ve been ranked ahead of …
7. Michigan Wolverines 7-1
Again, this is a new look for the College Football Playoff committee. It normally doesn’t give credit for a good loss on the road, but it does that here – and really does that with the No. 2. It’s fine, but is beating Wisconsin on the road really that great? It’s nitpicking, but the Wolverines probably should’ve been around 10.
6. Cincinnati Bearcats 8-0
The College Football Playoff committee really, really, really doesn’t like Group of Five schedules. More than that – and this was said by chairman Gary Barta – the mediocre performances against bad Navy and Tulane teams mattered.
One key thing here – no, it’s not as simple as Cincinnati moving up if teams in the top five lose. It’s not getting in if there are four Power Five conference champions with at most one loss, or if Alabama goes 12-1.
5. Ohio State Buckeyes 7-1
It’s SO interesting how the committee played this. It obviously wanted to rank Ohio State way high considering how it played over the last six weeks – and, considering it really seemed to like Minnesota, who the Buckeyes beat 45-31 – but it had to do the right thing and put it behind …
NEXT: College Football Playoff Rankings Reaction, Top 4
College Football Playoff Rankings Reaction, Top 4
4. Oregon Ducks 7-1
The explanation was easier than it was made out to be. CFP chairman Gary Barta talked about how the defense is getting its parts back, and how the offense lost some key guys, and … the Ducks beat Ohio State in Columbus. That’s all he needed to say.
However, watch out with this. If you’ll notice, there aren’t a whole lot of Pac-12 teams throughout the rest of the top 25 – like, none – and Ohio State is about to deal with Michigan State, Michigan, and possible a Big Ten Championship.
3. Michigan State Spartans 8-0
If the committee really liked Michigan enough to put it at 7, then Michigan State should probably be No. 2. However, there isn’t a whole lot else on the slate to get fired up over. Of course, it’s all just for show, but being ranked No. 3 is cool no matter what.
2. Alabama Crimson Tide 7-1
Whatever way the CFP types do everything else, there’s always the “because it’s Alabama” provision.
Uhhhhh, okay. Let’s put it this way – it ain’t wrong, but there is that loss to a Texas A&M team that’s much, much better than it played before that win, and there was a way-too-close win over a now 4-4 Florida team.
If Alabama wins out and goes 12-1 with an SEC Championship, it’s in, no questions asked. The real debate will be if it loses in a classic close game to …
1. Georgia Bulldogs 8-0
Duh. No brainer, no time needed to even discuss this. Georgia is No. 1, and everyone else is chasing.
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