CFP Committee Announces Top 4 Teams
On Tuesday night, the College Football Playoff committee released its first Top 25 rankings of the season. As a part of these rankings, fans got an insight as to who would be in the playoffs if they started today.
Tennessee
For the first time since 1998, the Vols have received the honor of being ranked first in the country. Tennessee’s 8-0 start featuring five then top-25 wins and a victory over Alabama has catapulted the team into the national spotlight. Along with a win over now No. 6 Alabama, the Vols also hold wins over No. 10 LSU, Kentucky, Florida and Pitt.
Leading Tennessee to a historic season is second-year head coach Josh Heupel. Heupel took over a dismantled and disastrous 3-7 program but reached a 7-6 record in his first year. Now, his fast-paced and innovative offense has given the Vols the top-scoring and total offense in college football.
Heupel’s signal caller is Virginia Tech transfer Hendon Hooker. After taking over the offense a year ago, Hooker has become one of the nation’s top players. He even currently sits atop the Heisman odds according to most sportsbooks. Helping him are elite weapons Jalin Hyatt, Cedric Tillman and Bru McCoy at wide receiver. Hyatt caught five touchdowns against Alabama and has already broken the school record for touchdown receptions in a season.
However, next up for Tennessee is a trip to Athens to take on the defending champions. The winner between the Vols and Georgia will almost certainly represent the SEC East in the SEC Championship game.
Ohio State
Coming in at second is the Buckeyes. A ranking this high is nothing new for Ohio State as they are almost always in the championship conversation. What held it back from a No. 1 ranking, though, is its strength of schedule. The Buckeyes have only played one currently ranked team in No. 15 Penn State.
Similar to Tennessee, Ohio State has an electric offense that has the ability to light up the scoreboard against any defense. CJ Stroud is right behind Hooker in terms of Heisman odds as he’s torched defenses all season. At receiver, he has help from Emeka Egbuka, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Julain Flemming. Star wideout Jaxson Smith-Njigba is also a game-changer but he has been held out with an injury for multiple weeks.
The Buckeyes won’t face much resistance until a showdown with No. 6 Michigan in their final regular season game. Both teams will likely be undefeated in the matchup with the winner almost certainly going to the playoffs.
Georgia
After claiming the school’s first football national title since 1980 last season, the Bulldogs have reloaded to make a run at back-to-back championships. A load of players departed from the team’s historically good defense and effective offense, but a mixture of veterans and newcomers have Georgia at 8-0.
One key piece returning from last year’s roster is quarterback Stetson Bennett. After leading the Bulldogs to a title, he has followed it up with another impressive campaign. Georgia’s biggest strength, though, is its defense. Kirby Smart has consistently engineered elite defenses in his tenure and this year is no different. This group is second in points allowed and fourth in yards allowed in the country. Standing out on defense are Jamon Dumas-Johnson, Nolan Smith, Malaki Starks and Christopher Smith.
The Bulldogs will face their toughest test of the season this week when Tennessee comes to town. They previously faced now No. 8 Oregon in the season opener where they demolished the Ducks 49-3. If they can recreate portions of that success and down the Vols, they will likely jump to No. 1 and compete in the SEC Championship.
Clemson
Under Dabo Swinney, the Tigers have emerged as one of the best teams in college football. Before missing out on the playoffs last year, Clemson qualified for it in 6-straight seasons. Now, the Tigers appear to be back on top of the ACC with an 8-0 start.
Replacing Trevor Lawrence at quarterback for Clemson is DJ Uiagalelei. He got the reigns to the offense last season but failed to put it all together in the Tigers’ 10-3 campaign. Now, he has prevented turnovers and improved enough to lead an effective offense.
Clemson’s undefeated start has featured wins over now No. 20 Syracuse, No. 21 Wake Forest and No. 22 NC State. All of those games were decided by 10 points or less with Clemson surviving. With a struggling Notre Dame team and a pedestrian South Carolina squad as the best competition left on the Tigers’ schedule, they will likely run the table and find themselves in a position to earn a spot in the playoffs once again.