Tennessee Leads Season’s First College Football Playoff Rankings

The first College Football Playoff rankings of the season were released with a new face leading the way. 

Tennessee was ranked at No. 1 for the first time in the College Football Playoff era, as the Volunteers sit at 8–0. Following the Volunteers, the rest of the top six is rounded out by Ohio State (8-0), Georgia (8-0), Clemson (8-0), Michigan (8-0) and Alabama (7-1). 

Following the broadcast of the first rankings, CFP chair Boo Corrigan said that Tennessee’s two wins against the Crimson Tide and No. 10 LSU helped the Vols receive the top CFP ranking. 

Tennessee has won eight consecutive games, most recently a dominant 44-6 victory against Kentucky on Saturday. The Volunteers face one of their toughest tests of the season–along with their win against the Crimson Tide on Oct. 15–when they travel to Georgia. 

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While Tennessee and Georgia have played many times as top 10 opponents, the two teams have never played as top five opponents. The last time the two teams met in a top-10 matchup was Oct. 12, 2002, when then No. 6 UGA defeated No. 10 Tennessee 18–13.

As Tennessee enters Sanford Stadium for a highly anticipated matchup, Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel said his team is solely focused enjoying the journey. “Our players have built this,” Heupel said. “Three years ago, it didn’t look like this. Embrace it.”

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Ohio State (8–0), which is coming off a 44-31 victory against Penn State, will go on the road to face Northwestern at noon on Saturday. Clemson (8–0) will be in a marquee matchup against Notre Dame on Saturday night. The Fighting Irish haven’t allowed more than 21 points in any of their three losses this season.

Both Oregon and USC are one-loss teams that landed in this week’s top 10. TCU (8–0) captured the No. 7 spot as the lowest-ranked undefeated team, sitting behind 7–1 Alabama, while LSU (6–2) rounded out the top 10.

Corrigan said the Horned Frogs sit one spot behind Alabama because the committee was looking for a “balanced team” on offense and defense. “They've [TCU] gotten behind in some games,” Corrigan said. “They’ve been able to come back.”

Here are the full first College Football Playoff rankings.

1. Tennessee 
2. Ohio State
3. Georgia
4. Clemson
5. Michigan
6. Alabama
7. TCU
8. Oregon
9. Southern California
10. LSU
11. Ole Miss
12. UCLA
13. Kansas State
14. Utah
15. Penn State
16. Illinois
17. North Carolina
18. Oklahoma State
19. Tulane
20. Syracuse
21. Wake Forest
22. NC State
23. Oregon State
24. Texas
25. UCF