College Football Playoff rankings debut: Big Ten and SEC dominate, but Big 12 and Notre Dame are big winners

After weeks of utter mayhem across the sport the initial College Football Playoff rankings unveiled Tuesday evening were comparatively sane and devoid of major dispute Perhaps the tame reaction was rooted in familiarity The top teams in the CFP rankings closely mirrored the top in the AP poll circulated Sunday Six were in the same spot in both and only one Oregon deviated by more than one position The Ducks were No in the AP poll but No in the CFP Why the relative lack of love for the Ducks They are - against ranked opponents with a decisive home loss to Indiana Oregon when you look at them in the top CFP selection committee chair Mack Rhoades reported are the lowest ranked in terms of record strength All in all the sport s largest part powerful conferences the Big Ten and SEC could claim accomplishment in specific form or fashion The former nailed down the top two spots with No Ohio State and No Indiana while the latter produced more ranked teams than any conference a reflection of the SEC s unparalleled depth and success in early-season non-conference matchups It produced four of the top six teams in the CFP rankings and accounted for nine of the spots The Big Ten placed seven teams in the rankings but four were near the bottom No USC No Iowa No Michigan and No Washington All four have two losses Add the SEC s total and the two leagues accounted for of the teams Beyond the heavyweights the Big stood as the biggest winner a stark contrast to its fate throughout the rankings cycle The conference placed two teams in the top on Tuesday evening No BYU and No Texas Tech they will square off Saturday in Lubbock while Utah was slotted th several spots above expectations Granted the undefeated Cougars were behind three teams with one loss Alabama Georgia and Mississippi which will undoubtedly rankle chosen fans and administrators in the Big footprint But the committee s placement of BYU and Texas Tech sets up the Big for the endgame it desires If the Cougars and Red Raiders only lose to each other on Saturday and in the conference championship meeting the Big could send a second crew into the CFP through the at-large pool Last year the Big produced just one playoff association Arizona State the conference champion while the ACC grabbed two bids That scenario could flip in based on the committee s recovery of the ACC on Tuesday evening Its highest-ranked company No Virginia was behind the Big trio and that wasn t even the preponderance blatant snub Miami - was slotted eight spots below Notre Dame - despite a head-to-head domination Head-to-head really matters when the teams are comparable at the margins Rhoades stated suggesting Notre Dame was held in vastly higher esteem than the Hurricanes But the ACC wasn t alone in the cold-shoulder department The Group of Five conferences were excluded from the rankings altogether despite possessing a slew of one-loss teams with victories over Power Four opponents Related Articles Pac- legacy bowl projections Oregon to CFP Utah to Alamo Big Ten power rankings Indiana on top ahead of first CFP reveal Big power rankings BYU on top as TTU Utah climb and Cincinnati slides Pac- power rankings San Diego State on top after Boise State s loss as the CFP path continues to narrow Week recap Sanders and CU struggle Arizona and ASU rise on the road Memphis which is - and beat Arkansas was viewed as the Group of Five crew largest part likely to crack the CFP rankings To a certain extent the growth is meaningless Because there are four power conferences but five automatic bids the best club from the G leagues is guaranteed a spot regardless of the final rankings Dec The other big winner not affiliated with the Big Ten or SEC was naturally Notre Dame The Irish lost early to Miami and Texas A M but have won six in a row and were ranked th In that position they are effectively guaranteed a berth so long as they don t lose for a third time When we look at the tape Rhoades reported we think Notre Dame is a really solid football club on both sides of the ball And if Notre Dame qualifies for the CFP there would be just six at-large spots not seven to split among the non-champions from the ACC Big Ten Big and SEC Notre Dame could box out a second company from the Big or a fourth unit from the Big Ten or perhaps a fifth association from the SEC Send suggestions comments and tips confidentiality guaranteed to wilnerhotline bayareanewsgroup com or call - - Follow me on the social media platform X WilnerHotline