Alabama takes No. 1 spot in initial CFP rankings of 2020
To little surprise, Alabama topped this year’s first edition of the College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday evening. The Crimson Tide (7-0) was followed by No. 2 Notre Dame (8-0), No. 3 Clemson (7-1) and Ohio State (4-0).
At the moment, No. 5 Texas A&M (5-1) and No. 6 Florida (6-1) are the teams on the peripheral of the playoff picture. Undefeated non-Power Five teams Cincinnati (8-0) and BYU (9-0) come in at No. 7 and No. 14 respectively, while No. 15 Oregon (3-0) is the highest-ranked Pac 12 team.
This season’s College Football Playoff semifinal games will be held on Jan. 1 at the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, Calif. and the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
Alabama is the only team in the rankings with multiple wins over teams in the top 10, defeating Texas A&M and No. 9 Georgia both by double-digit margins. The Tide will host No. 22 Auburn this week and is currently on a collision course with Florida in the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 19.
Alabama missed out on the College Football Playoff for the first time last year after earning a bid to each of the previous five playoffs.
The second edition of the CFP rankings will be released next Tuesday (Dec. 1) at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN.
College Football Playoff Rankings
1. Alabama (7-0)
2. Notre Dame (8-0)
3. Clemson (7-1)
4. Ohio State (4-0)
5. Texas A&M (5-1)
6. Florida (6-1)
7. Cincinnati (8-0)
8. Northwestern (5-0)
9. Georgia (5-2)
10. Miami (7-1)
11. Oklahoma (6-2)
12. Indiana (4-1)
13. Iowa State (6-2)
14. BYU (9-0)
15. Oregon (3-0)
16. Wisconsin (2-1)
17. Texas (5-2)
18. Southern California (3-0)
19. North Carolina (6-2)
20. Coastal Carolina (8-0)
21. Marshall (7-0)
22. Auburn (5-2)
23. Oklahoma State (5-2)
24. Iowa (3-2)
25. Tulsa (5-1)
