First College Football Playoff Rankings: Alabama Ranked 6th

By RALPH D. RUSSO AP College Football Writer

Tennessee, Ohio State, Georgia and Clemson are the top four teams in the first College Football Playoff rankings, with Alabama ranked 6th.

The rankings were released Tuesday night, four days before the Volunteers and Bulldogs play in Athens.

Michigan was fifth, followed by one-loss Alabama and unbeaten TCU.

Tennessee is No. 1 in the CFP rankings for the first time, starting ahead of a group of teams that have become regulars at the top of the selection committee’s top 25. The Volunteers have already beaten the Crimson Tide and LSU, which is ranked 10th.

Only one team that has been No. 1 in the committee’s initial rankings has not made the playoff, but only about half the teams in first top four managed to finish there.

The final rankings that set the CFP field of four are set for Dec. 4. The 13-person panel is led by a first-time chairman Boo Corrigan, the athletic director of North Carolina State.

Corrigan said there was some consideration for Ohio State and Georgia as No. 1, but Tennessee’s victories against Alabama and at LSU won the day.

The CFP semifinals are scheduled to be played at the Fiesta and Peach Bowls on Dec. 31, with the championship game set for Jan. 9 in Inglewood, California.

In the SEC, the loser of Saturday’s showdown between Tennessee and Georgia is not eliminated, especially if its the Volunteers, with a victory over Alabama already in hand.

Alabama and Ole Miss can’t afford another loss — they play each other in two weeks — but either would breeze into the CFP by winning out.

The most SEC-centric scenario the rest of the country needs to root against is Alabama winning out, beating Georgia in the SEC championship game, and leaving the Tide and Bulldogs at 12-1 and Tennessee at 11-1 with a close loss to Georgia.

(Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.)