College Football Playoff Rankings: Miami (FL) opens at No. 1 over Georgia as SEC dominates top 25 - CBS Sports
By Google News Sports ·
The first edition of the College Football Playoff Rankings was released Tuesday night with undefeated Miami (FL) opening at No. 1 ahead of Georgia. Just over a month remains until the final College Football Playoff bracket is selected, so the Hurricanes will need to hold off not only the Bulldogs but the rest of the top 25 if they aim to retain the top seed in the postseason for the best-possible chance at advancing to a second straight CFP National Championship appearance.
Off to a dominant start this season, Miami has been forced to play some closer games of late as its schedule has toughened. To maintain the No. 1 spot, UM may need to go undefeated through the regular season, but even if it suffers a loss, a second straight playoff appearance is likely after the Canes missed the postseason bracket across the first 11 years of its existence.
Nine of the 12 teams ranked No. 1 in a season's initial CFP Rankings ultimately reached the playoff, an effort now made easier with the expanded 12-team field, which is being contested for a third and likely final season.
Miami is in a strong position to go wire to wire, standing 8-0 (6-0 ACC) with one ranked win (Wake Forest) and only one game remaining against a top 25 team (Nov. 7 at Notre Dame). No. 2 Georgia, meanwhile, is already 2-0 against ranked opponents this season with three more ahead on its schedule.
One-loss Notre Dame, without a quality win this season, is ranked No. 11 as the last team in if the season ended today.
"Notre Dame ranked 11th is impressive. We're impressed by their performance on both sides of the football, they're very good," CFP chair Hunter Yurachek said. "But when you look at Notre Dame's schedule, they don't have that signature win right now. They lost at BYU, next best win is against…
Originally published by Google News Sports