College Football Playoff: 2nd Rankings of 2015 Released

Last week the first College Football Playoff rankings of 2015 were released and contained a few surprises some. The College Football Playoff Committee has repeatedly made it clear that they will only consider current accomplishments in their weekly rankings and again drove that point home in their second ranking of 2015.

Some fans will raise a level of concern while others will view it as intriguing and still a fresh start compared to the BCS system. The biggest difference between the new rankings and how the playoff system worked is that there is no way two teams with a loss on their record would be currently ranked in the top 4 under the BCS polls. It simply would not have happened. Yet here we are in week 11 with two teams ranked in the top 4 that have losses.

How can I be so confident that these two teams would not have been ranked so highly under the old system? There are still 6 teams in the Top 25 that are undefeated. Excluding Houston, there are 5 undefeated teams from Power 5 conferences. I encourage you to find a similar poll in the BCS and find where two teams with losses were ranked ahead of 2/3’s of the undefeated teams. I’ll wait, but I won’t be holding my breath.

Truth be told, much of this won’t matter in the long run. Baylor (#6, 8-0) still has to play Oklahoma State (#8, 8-0). Ohio State (#3, 9-0) and Iowa (#5, 9-0) will meet in the Big 10 Championship if both teams remain on their current course. Not only will the victor in those matchups likely get a boost in their rankings, the legimacy of griping from the loser (and their fan base) will no longer be relevant. Such is life in college football.

Still haven’t seen the entire second ranking under the College Football Playoff? Well here it is, with SEC teams in bold:

Clemson (9-0)

Alabama (8-1)

Ohio State (9-0)

Notre Dame (8-1)

Iowa (9-0)

Baylor (8-0)

Stanford (8-1)

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