Rank | Teams |
---|---|
1 | Alabama |
2 | Clemson |
3 | Michigan |
4 | Texas A&M |
5 | Washington |
6 | Ohio State |
7 | Louisville |
8 | Wisconsin |
9 | Auburn |
10 | Nebraska |
11 | Florida |
12 | Penn State |
13 | LSU |
14 | Oklahoma |
15 | Colorado |
16 | Utah |
17 | Baylor |
18 | Oklahoma State |
19 | Virginia Tech |
20 | West Virginia |
21 | North Carolina |
22 | Florida State |
23 | Western Michigan |
24 | Boise State |
25 | Washington State |
Last night the playoff committee released their very first playoff rankings. The first three teams are no suprise: Alabama, Clemson and Michigan. While Michigan is #2 in the AP and USA Today, they are number 3 in the playoff rankings. Number 4 however went to Texas A&M. Voters were obviously swayed by the "best loss" argument over the "Washington hasn't lost this season" that most people would use.
6-2 Wisconsin and Auburn are both in the top ten ahead of four teams with only one loss. Penn State comes in at number 12, thanks to their win over then #2 Ohio State in Happy Valley. Teams ranked 12 through 16 are all two-loss teams, ahead of both Baylor and West Virginia.
West Virginia ultimately came in at number 20. They are the lowest ranked Big 12 team. I will tell you not to really worry about the playoff rankings right now. The media needs something to talk about and the playoff rankings need ratings. Hence Texas A&M is 4th. Back in 2014, the SEC had four teams in the Top 6 and everyone freaked out that the playoffs would be an All-SEC. That didn't happen then and it won't happen this year.
West Virginia needs to handle its upcoming games and the number beside their name will get lower. They have chances to secure wins against Oklahoma and Baylor in the next 5 weeks and the Oklahoma State loss will look better if the Cowboys continue to win.