The first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2025 season will be revealed on Tuesday evening, and although it's impossible to know exactly how the committee is thinking, there's an order things should be. However, preseason expectations and TV ratings will surely factor in, even though the committee swears neither does.
The Oklahoma Sooners are right in the mix after beating Tennessee 33-27 on Saturday night in Knoxville, and with a look the top-12, which is what really matters, this where the Sooners should be, although likely won't be.
CFP rankings revealed Tuesday night
More than likely, Ohio State will get this top spot just like in every other major poll. However, other than reputation and brand recognition, Indiana has a better resume than the Buckeyes.
The Hoosiers are undefeated with a road win over Oregon and a blowot of Illinois. There hasn't been a team yet that belonged on the same field as the Hoosiers.
Ohio State has had the top spot in both major polls since beating Texas in Week 1. Although the Buckeyes deserve to be in the top 3 while still undefeated, preseason expectations and logo ultimately have them ahead of Indiana.
The Aggies are still unbeaten, and although they come from the SEC, they still don't have as impressive of a resume as Indiana or Ohio State with their biggest win so far being on the road at Notre Dame Week 3.
Among these top teams, Alabama certainly has the worst loss to Florida State in its season opener, but since, the Crimson Tide have proven to be one of the best squads in the country with seven-straight win, including ranked victories against Georgia, Vanderbilt, Missouri and Tennessee.
The Bulldogs' only loss so far came to Alabama, which is the only one-loss team that deserves to be ahead of Georgia.
Similar to Georgia's situation, Ole Miss' lone loss was a close one to the Bulldogs, and those outcomes determined the pecking order between one-loss Alabama, Georgia and Ole Miss. The teams below the trio, even if undefeated, haven't earned a reason to jump ahead yet.
The undefeated Cougars will determine if the CFP committee was serious about weighing strength of schedule this year or if the 2024 Indiana model can still work. Based on who's beaten who, BYU doesn't deserve to be ahead of any of the six teams above, unless it takes out Texas Tech on Saturday. So far, then-No. 23 Utah is the Cougars' only game against a top-25 team.
Oregon's most impressive win this season was over Penn State in double overtime, but that's clearly lost its stature. However, the Ducks still belong in the CFP at 7-1 and won't be going anywhere.
Texas Tech fans have an argument that the Red Raiders should be above Oregon, especially considering their only loss was to Arizona State without their starting quarterback. However, the two have a common opponent in Oklahoma State, and the Ducks got the Cowboys even before Mike Gundy was fired and still handed them the worst loss in school history.
With that, Texas Tech beating BYU on Saturday should catapult the Red Raiders next week.
The Longhorns fail the eye test, but they still keep winning and just notched another impressive victory against Vanderbilt to pair with their Red River Rivalry win. It's tough for OU fans to see Texas just a spot above, but that head-to-head outcome has to mean something.
The Sooners are firmly in the mix to make the CFP after beating Tennessee on Saturday, but any higher than this would take being drunk on crimson Kool-Aid. Everyone above OU either has less losses or beat the Sooners on a neutral site.
This spot, though, does put OU in danger of getting replaced by a Group of Five team if these were the real rankings and the season ended today. The Sooners' biggest threat here by the CFP committee, though, is committee darling Notre Dame. Don't be surprised if the Fighting Irish are over-ranked above OU and Texas on Tuesday night.
This spot belonged to someone from the ACC, and although Louisville looks like the better team, Virginia has been more deserving so far. More than likely, though, the CFP committee will ignore either the ACC, or one OU or Texas, to sneak Notre Dame into the 12-team field.