Rick Neuheisel says ACC was ‘devalued’ by CFP selection committee
By Jacob Moss
Published:
The first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2025 season were released on Tuesday night, marking the beginning of the final push of regular-season action as teams gear up for what they hope to be a spot in the final 12-team field come December.
The ACC was prominently featured in these initial CFP rankings, with 5 squads making the cut, but some were surprised to see that the highest ranking any of these squads received was the Virginia Cavaliers at No. 14.
CBS Sports analyst Rick Neuheisel discussed the ACC’s positioning in the first CFP rankings on Tuesday night, following their official reveal, saying that the selection committee “devalued” the Power 4 conference.
“Jim Phillips (ACC Commissioner) is watching this and scratching his head because they have devalued the entire conference,” Neuheisel said. “Miami is sitting there at 6-2, having beaten Notre Dame, and yet they find themselves 8 spots behind them with the same record. You’ve got an 8-1 Virginia team sitting there at 14. Louisville, with 1 loss, is sitting right there behind them at 15, and Georgia Tech, who just lost their first game, is sitting at 17.”
The ACC does feature the third-most teams in the initial CFP rankings with 5, but the positioning of these squads does the conference no favors as they head into the final stretch of the season.
Given the nature of how things have shaped up so far this season and how many great teams are stacked up inside the top-12 already, it will be hard for an ACC program to find its way into an at-large bid come playoff time.
