SI:AM | The Very Weird CFP Rankings

Alabama got some extra love from the committee, of course, but that wasn’t the only thing worth grumbling about.

Alabama’s favorable treatment by the committee was nothing new, but still puzzling. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I find the weekly CFP rankings exhausting, but I’m glad they gave me something to write about on a night where the NBA was off. 

In today’s SI:AM: 
1️⃣ First CFP rankings
🦁 How to beat the Vikings
🔄 NFL trade deadline updates

If you’re reading this on SI.com, click here to subscribe and receive SI:AM directly in your inbox each morning.

Are you ready to argue about this every week?

People across America sat in front of their televisions last night waiting anxiously to see the results of a long-anticipated vote. I’m speaking, of course, of the season’s first College Football Playoff Selection Committee rankings. And when it was over, they needed a sports version of Steve Kornacki to explain what the hell just happened. 

The rankings are puzzling—not that that’s anything new. The only unimpeachable placement was putting undefeated Miami at the top. After that, it gets weird. Here’s the top 12: 

1. Miami (8–0)
2. Georgia (7–1)
3. Utah (8–0)
4. Indiana (8–1)
5. Alabama (6–2)
6. Kentucky (7–1)
7. Texas (6–2)
8. UCLA (8–0)
9. BYU (7–1)
10. Ole Miss (6–2)
11. Notre Dame (7–1)
12. Ohio State (6–2)

The most glaring issue is putting Alabama at No. 5. The Tide are the highest-ranked two-loss team, ahead of an undefeated Big Ten team (UCLA) and multiple one-loss power-conference teams. It’s not surprising, though. As Pat Forde writes, the committee has long been enamored with Alabama and given the Tide favorable treatment to help ensure them a spot in the tournament. Alabama doesn’t even have the best résumé among two-loss SEC teams. Texas boasts wins over Ole Miss (No. 10 in the committee’s rankings), Ohio State (No. 12) and Tennessee (No. 13), but is ranked seventh, two spots behind Alabama. Alabama’s best wins are over No. 6 Kentucky and No. 21 South Carolina. 

Kentucky, by the way, has just one loss. But if a head-to-head win by a two-loss team over a one-loss team is enough for Alabama to leapfrog Kentucky, how do you explain the enormous gap in the rankings between No. 4 Indiana and No. 12 Ohio State?

Kentucky isn’t the only one-loss team that should be fuming at the rankings. Wake Forest is 7–1, with its lone loss coming against Miami, and has won its last four ACC games by an average of 39 points. But the Demon Deacons are ranked 16th, behind six teams with two losses. Notre Dame fans are surely ticked off over the gap between their AP poll ranking (No. 4) and CFP ranking (No. 11), but I’m actually inclined to agree with the committee’s argument that the Irish lack a signature win. 

The weekly release of the committee’s rankings is always an aggravating exercise. College football is too decentralized to confidently produce a coherent ranking of the nation’s best teams, so you inevitably end up twisting yourself in knots trying to weigh one team’s win over another’s loss while accounting for strength of schedule, injuries, home vs. road performance and a dozen other factors. It was a difficult process when the CFP was a four-team tournament. It’s only gotten more complicated now that the committee has to evaluate a slew of two-loss teams in a 12-team format. Imagine how much worse it’s going to get when the field expands to 24 teams. 

The best of Sports Illustrated

Could the struggling Chargers deal Justin Herbert before the trade deadline? | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

• Albert Breer: The Lions Gave the NFL a Playbook to Combat the Vikings’ Blitz Scheme
• Gilberto Manzano: 2024 NFL Re-Draft: All Six Quarterbacks Selected Would Still Be First-Round Picks
• Gilberto Manzano: Assessing Which Star Players Could Be on the Move at the Trade Deadline
• Conor Orr: Jerry Jones’s Comments About Coach Pay Have No Basis in Reality
• Gilberto Manzano, Matt Verderame: 2027 NFL Trade Deadline: What We’re Hearing on Justin Herbert and Other Big Names
• Ryan Phillips:  One Offseason Move Every NL Team Should Make, but Won’t
• Pat Forde: Ranking the 15 Greatest Games Ever Played at Notre Dame Stadium
• Pat Forde: College Football Playoff Committee’s Obsession With Alabama Is Unwarranted
• Bryan Fischer: Notre Dame Got One Clear Message From the College Football Playoff Committee

The top five…

The Jets pulled off a historic comeback to beat the Canadiens in overtime. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

… things I saw last night:
5. Buffalo receiver Chance Morrow’s full-extension touchdown catch.
4. Tomáš Hertl’s power-play goal with 32 seconds left to win it for the Golden Knights against the Penguins. 
3. A slick deke and tough backhand shot by the Canucks’ Jake DeBrusk. 
2. Ohio running back Duncan Brune’s 91-yard touchdown to ice the game in the fourth quarter against Akron. (Akron is still winless against FBS opponents this season.)
1. The Jets’ incredible comeback against the Canadiens. Winnipeg scored four goals in two minutes, eight seconds to tie the game with 32 seconds left in regulation. It was the latest four-goal comeback in NHL history. The Jets went on to win in overtime. 

📺 What we’re watching today …

NBA

76ers at Pistons, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN
After Detroit handed Philadelphia its only loss of the season so far, the 76ers responded with a four-game winning streak. Philadelphia will look to keep that streak going and win its first game against the Pistons since 2024winning 106–93 in Philadelphia. Detroit has won the last six straight against Philadelphia.

Mavericks at Spurs 9:30 p.m., ET, ESPN
San Antonio has won the last five games against Dallas, a trend that Cooper Flagg will hope to end tonight.