Cincinnati debuted at No. 6 in the College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday night. SEC powers Georgia, Alabama and the rest of the field are at No. 1, followed by No. 2, followed by No. 3, followed by No. 4 Oregon.
The Bearcats were one spot ahead of No. 7 title they held in an undefeated regular-season in 2020. Cincinnati (8-0), which is No. Both the Coaches and AP polls rank Cincinnati (8-0) as No. 2. They had hoped to be the first Group 5 team to appear in the CFP selection panel's top four. Cincinnati's profile has been boosted by a No. 2 road victory over No. 10 Notre Dame, ending the Fighting Irish's 26-game streak of home wins. Cincinnati is also the American Athletic Conference's only team that was ranked by the selection panel, with neither SMU (7-1) nor Houston (7-1).
The CFP launched in 2014 and has not featured a Group of Five team.
Ohio State is No. 5th, one spot behind the Oregon team that lost at Ohio Stadium on Sept. 11. Oregon is the Pac-12's only representative in the CFP initial top-25. This was buoyed by Ohio State's win (top defender Kavyon Thbodeaux did not play), and not affected by Stanford's Oct. 2 road loss (offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead didn’t call plays due to a health concern).
Oklahoma is No. 8 despite Oklahoma being the only 9-0 national team. The Sooners have no wins against the ranked opponents and have struggled to defeat Nebraska, Tulane and Nebraska. Oklahoma, which has only missed the CFP twice in its history faces No. Next week, 12 Baylor and No. 11 Oklahoma State on Nov. 27.
Wake Forest debuts at No. 9 in the CFP rankings, and is the ACC's best hope for a playoff. CFP ranks at No. 9, just two days after it made its first appearance in the AP poll's top-10. Only two other ACC teams are No. Only two other ACC teams -- No. The rankings include 25 Pitt and 19 NC State.
Georgia landed the top spot not surprising, but 1-loss Alabama is just behind the Bulldogs and ahead of three undefeated Power 5 team. The Tide lost at Texas A&M on Oct. 9, which is No. 14 in the initial rankings, despite defeats at Arkansas and No. 17 Mississippi State. Mike Leach's Bulldogs, who are just 5-3 and have close losses to LSU and Memphis, but rank higher than the two teams they have beaten, No. 18 Kentucky and No. 18 Kentucky and No.
Michigan State, which has made just one playoff appearance since 2015, debuts as No. After a victory at home over No. 3, 3 was achieved. 7 Michigan. 7 Michigan.
Five of the top seven spots in the initial rankings were held by the SEC and Big Ten, respectively. The remaining 13 spots are held by the Big Ten. Auburn is No. 18, while the SEC has seven teams in the top 18. 13 is one spot higher than the Texas A&M team that it visits Saturday. Notre Dame is home to two independent FBS teams, while No. 15 BYU and two entries for the Mountain West in No. Fresno State and Number. 24 San Diego State, both of which have wins against Pac-12 rivals.
Texas-San Antonio is not included in the initial CFP rankings despite an 8-0 start.
