Brian Kelly knows that the first College Football Playoff ranking means very little.

The LSU head coach has had his team included in the ranking several times, dating back to his time at Notre Dame. Every time the first ranking comes out, he remembers the same message: it’s all about where you’re ranked in December.

“I’ve been in this position for the last 7 years now. And has always been ranked,” Kelly said during the SEC coaches teleconference. “And probably said the same thing. It’s really where you’re ranked in December. These early rankings is just early in the race. Everybody’s jockeying for position. It’s much better to be undefeated at this time. Certainly you allow yourself a little bit of a better opportunity, but clearly it’s for us it’s one game at a time and focus is clearly on our preparation and our process. So it’s great to be ranked, but really for us it doesn’t change the way we go about doing our business from week to week.”

While it’s going to be tough, Kelly could still manage to get his team into the top 4 come the final rankings in December. LSU has already faced losses to Florida State and Ole Miss, but luckily for him both of those teams sit inside the top-10 in the first ranking.

Kelly has a chance to get his team further up in the rankings when the Tigers take on Alabama this weekend. A win over the Tide could help LSU find its way into the SEC Championship, and if it can win that game it could very likely be the first 2-loss team to reach the Playoff.

Kelly has been to the Playoff twice in his coaching career, both with Notre Dame in 2018 and 2020.