Written by Deb Whitcas
The College Football Playoff Committee released their first rankings of the 2022-23 season yesterday placing Tennessee on top. Four new members and nine returning members of the committee, comprised of all college football experts, debated for two days, according to Boo Corrigan, CFP Chairman of 12 years.
“I wish you all could have been in the room. The debate over the top 25 rankings were extensive and very animated, particularly at the top. A case was made for Ohio State to be No. 1 for Georgia and for Tennessee, and there were good arguments for each one of the schools”, said Corrigan
The committee has strict guidelines that they follow when deciding the rankings. They consider a team’s record, strength of schedule, the team’s matchups and game results of common opponents. The members have a wealth of data and statistics, including injury reports, available to them during the selection process and include all pertinent information in their decision.
Ultimately, the committee put Tennessee at No. 1 because of their stellar road win against LSU and victory over the highly respected Alabama. Corrigan explained, “From a Tennessee standpoint, you look at the LSU game and you look at the Kentucky game and the defensive effort by them in that game. I think that really stood out to the committee as we were looking at that’
This is the first time Tennessee has earned the No. 1 spot in the CFP Top 25 Ranking coming off an 8-0 start to their season. They are set to play the No. 3 ranked Georgia (5-0) on Saturday November 5th, which could potentially shake-up next weeks CFP ranking.
The 1st CFP top 25 rankings are as follows:
1. Tennessee (8-0)
2. Ohio State (8-0)
3. Georgia (8-0)
4. Clemson (8-0)
5. Michigan (8-0)
6. Alabama (7-1)
7. TCU (8-0)
8. Oregon (7-1)
9. USC (7-1)
10. LSU (6-2)
11. Ole Miss (8-1)
12. UCLA (7-1)
13. Kansas State (6-2)
14. Utah (6-2)
15. Penn State (6-2)
16. Illinois (7-1)
17. North Carolina (7-1)
18. Oklahoma State (6-2)
19. Tulane (7-1)
20. Syracuse (6-2)
21. Wake Forest (6-2)
22. NC State (6-2)
23. Oregon State (6-2)
24. Texas (5-3)
25. UCF (6-2)
There are 240 plus games still to be played in the college season and four more chances for the teams to make the top of the CFP rank. The next CFP top 25 announcement will be made Tuesday, November 8th at 7pm on ESPN.
