Tennessee, Ohio State, Georgia, and Clemson were the top four teams in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season released Tuesday night, four days before the Volunteers and Bulldogs square off on the field.
Michigan was fifth, followed by 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 already have beaten the Crimson Tide and LSU, which was ranked 10th.
The committee began its weekly in-person meetings Monday at hotel in Grapevine, Texas, and revealed the first of six weekly rankings.
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.
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.
