The weekly College Football Playoff rankings begin on Tuesday of this week and will continue through the end of the 2018 college football season. This year’s postseason will be the fifth College Football Playoff which began in 2014.

As this year’s first iteration of the College Football Playoff rankings are released, some familiar names should be at the top – namely, Alabama and Clemson. In fact, Alabama and Clemson are the top two teams in terms of appearances in previous College Football Playoff fields. Alabama has been in all four Playoff fields. Clemson has been in three of the four.

Most college football analysts believe LSU and Notre Dame will be in the no. 3 and no. 4 slots of the first Playoff rankings. Fans will argue both sides of which team should be ahead of the other, but we expect LSU to take the no. 3 slot because of the Tigers’ overly impressive resume. Yes, this means an LSU team with a loss would be ahead of Notre Dame’s undefeated record. LSU’s big wins over teams such as Miami, at Auburn and of course the drumming of Georgia recently put its strength of schedule near the top of the teams in the Playoff rankings.

Georgia and Michigan could be the two teams right outside the top 4. Michigan’s resume is iffy, and Georgia big win over Florida will likely move the Dawgs ahead of the Wolverines.

Other things to look for… Kentucky will likely debut in the top 10. Wow! How high will UCF be? If they start in the top 10 of the College Football Playoff rankings, then it’s possible that they could have a chance to move up if we get a good amount of chaos at the top in the month ahead.

Teams that everyone will be watching with each iteration of the college football rankings: UCF for obvious reasons, Ohio State has a knack for climbing rankings and getting in the mix, can Texas make a run at the Playoff?

Lastly, it’s not unusual for the first college football rankings of each season to include some quirky results. It’s not clear what that might be this year, but keep your eye out for some unexpected rankings and don’t forget that the rankings often change quite a bit as the last month of the season unfolds.

This year’s Playoff will take place as follows: Semifinals games at the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl on Dec. 29, 2018. The championship game will take place on Jan. 7, 2019 in Santa Clara, California.

Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California

When will the College Football Playoff Rankings Be Released?

The first College Football Playoff rankings will be out on ESPN (or ESPN2) at 7:00 p.m. eastern on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018. Then, five more iterations of the rankings will be released culminating on December 2, 2018 with the final announcement of the Playoff field. The full schedule of College Football Playoff rankings releases is as follows:

  • Tuesday, October 30
  • Tuesday, November 6
  • Tuesday, November 13
  • Tuesday, November 20
  • Tuesday, November 27
  • Sunday, December 2 (playoff field announced)

Key Facts about the College Football Playoff Rankings:

  • The rankings are determined by a 13-member selection committee.
  • The College Football Playoff is not governed by the NCAA. In fact, the NCAA has never recognized an official national championship for FBS football.
  • The College Football Playoff replaced the controversial Bowl Championship Series (BCS) system which ran from 1998 to 2013. The BCS’s goal was to essentially determine a no. 1 and no. 2 ranking in order to determine the best national championship game in the postseason. Alternatively, the College Football Playoff works to determine a top 4 rankings for a 4-team Playoff.
  • The semifinal games for the College Football Playoff rotate each year between the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl.
  • The championship game is awarded to individual sites and cities. The previous College Football Playoff championship games have occurred in Arlington, Glendale, Tampa and Atlanta.

The Current College Football Playoff Rankings Selection Committee:

  • Rob Mullens, Chair, Oregon AD
  • Frank Beamer, Former Virginia Tech head coach
  • Paola Boivin, Arizona State professor
  • Jeff Bower, Former Southern Miss head coach
  • Joe Castiglione, Oklahoma AD
  • Herb Deromedi, Former Central Michigan head coach
  • Ken Hatfield, Former college football head coach
  • Chris Howard, Robert Morris University President
  • Bobby Johnson, Former Vanderbilt head coach
  • Ronnie Lott, Former football player
  • Gene Smith, Ohio State AD
  • Todd Stansbury, Georgia Tech AD
  • Scott Stricklin, Florida AD

The committee determines the four best teams for the College Football Playoff taking into consideration conference championships, strength of schedule, head-to-head competition and comparative outcomes of common opponents. The committee does not officially recognize margin of victory but past results indicate that the “eye test” definitely impacts the committee’s rankings.

College Football Playoff History:

2014-2015:

Rose Bowl: Oregon (59) vs. Florida State (20)
Sugar Bowl: Ohio State (42) vs. Alabama (35)
Championship: Ohio State (42) vs. Oregon (20)

2015-2016:

Orange Bowl: Clemson (37) vs. Oklahoma (17)
Cotton Bowl: Alabama (38) vs. Michigan State (0)
Championship: Alabama (45) vs. Clemson (40)

2016-2017:

Fiesta Bowl: Clemson (31) vs. Ohio State (0)
Peach Bowl: Alabama (24) vs. Washington (7)
Championship: Clemson (35) vs. Alabama (31)

2017-2018:

Rose Bowl: Georgia (54) vs. Oklahoma (48)
Sugar Bowl: Alabama (24) vs. Clemson (6)
Championship: Alabama (26) vs. Georgia (23)

College Football Playoff appearances by team:

  • Alabama: 4
  • Clemson: 3
  • Ohio State: 2

  • Oklahoma: 2
  • Georgia: 1
  • Oregon: 1
  • Florida State: 1
  • Michigan State: 1
  • Washington: 1

College Football Rankings History:

2014 Rankings:

Week 10:

Mississippi State
Florida State
Auburn
Mississippi

Week 11:

Mississippi State
Florida State
Auburn
Oregon

Week 12:

Mississippi State
Oregon
Florida State
TCU

Week 13:

Alabama
Oregon
Florida State
Mississippi State

Week 14:

Alabama
Oregon
Florida State
Mississippi State

Week 15:

Alabama
Oregon
TCU
Florida State

Week 16:

Alabama
Oregon
Florida State
Ohio State

2015 Rankings:

Week 9:

Clemson
LSU
Ohio State
Alabama

Week 10:

Clemson
Alabama
Ohio State
Notre Dame

Week 11:

Clemson
Alabama
Ohio State
Notre Dame

Week 12:

Clemson
Alabama
Oklahoma
Iowa

Week 13:

Clemson
Alabama
Oklahoma
Iowa

Week 14:

Clemson
Alabama
Michigan State
Oklahoma

2016 Rankings:

Week 9:

Alabama
Clemson
Michigan
Texas A&M

Week 10:

Alabama
Clemson
Michigan
Washington

Week 11:

Alabama
Ohio State
Michigan
Clemson

Week 12:

Alabama
Ohio State
Michigan
Clemson

Week 13:

Alabama
Ohio State
Clemson
Washington

Week 14:

Alabama
Clemson
Ohio State
Washington

2017 Rankings:

Week 10:

Georgia
Alabama
Notre Dame
Clemson

Week 11:

Alabama
Clemson
Miami
Oklahoma

Week 12:

Alabama
Miami
Clemson
Oklahoma

Week 13:

Clemson
Auburn
Oklahoma
Wisconsin

Week 14:

Clemson
Oklahoma
Georgia
Alabama

Stay tuned to Saturday Down South as we analyze the College Football Playoff rankings each week as we head towards the 2018-2019 postseason and this year’s College Football Playoff.