The first edition of the College Football Playoff Rankings will be out Tuesday night.

How will the top four look?

Please note that this isn’t how we rank the top four teams; it’s a prediction as to how the Playoff selection committee will rank the top four teams:

1. Alabama Crimson Tide
2. Clemson Tigers
3. LSU Tigers
4. Notre Dame

The next two should be No. 5 Michigan and No. 6 Georgia.

A few takeaways on how and why things may play out Tuesday night:

  • Alabama and Clemson should be ranked No. 1 and No. 2 respectively. Is there a chance Clemson is ranked No. 1 ahead of Alabama? Sure, there’s a chance, but we think it’s highly unlikely to happen at this point with an undefeated Alabama team.
  • No. 3 will be an interesting indicator. LSU has the best resume in college football this year despite having one loss. LSU has beaten five Power 5 teams, and it’s not even November. Four of those teams were ranked at the time — Miami, Auburn, Georgia and Mississippi State, with the only loss to a currently ranked Florida team on the road. Notre Dame, on the other hand is undefeated, and could easily be justified at No. 3.
  • The most interesting thing about the first rankings will be where undefeated UCF is ranked. The Knights resume is really weak, but they are no doubt a good football team. If UCF is ranked in the top 10, there’s a chance for them to get into the top four with chaos. If the Knights are ranked outside the top 10, there will be zero chance of an impact down the stretch. The committee will set the expectation.

Things will certainly be interesting Tuesday night.