Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
4 Years of CFP Rankings Show Importance of Good Start
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
October 30, 2018

Share

If form holds, two of the top four teams in the first College Football Playoff ranking of the season will go on to play in the national semifinals.

“You know, it’s like John Wooden said, and I can’t remember the exact quote, but basically: Don’t let criticism or praise affect you negatively.” — Washington State coach Mike Leach
After meeting for a day and a half at a hotel outside Dallas, the CFP selection committee will unveil its initial top 25 Tuesday night, the first of the nationally televised weekly revelations until the one that really counts on Dec. 2.
Coaches have already begun imploring their teams not to pay attention.
“You know, it’s like John Wooden said, and I can’t remember the exact quote, but basically: Don’t let criticism or praise affect you negatively,” Washington State coach Mike Leach said. “And so we have to just focus on stuff like that.”
Ranking teams is a time-honored tradition in college football, going back to first Associated Press poll in 1936. But what, if anything, can be learned from the first four years of CFP rankings?

Looking Back at the Previous Top 4s

Of the 16 teams the committee ranked in the top four of its initial rankings from 2014-17, half made the playoff. Last season, for the first time, three teams (Georgia, Alabama, Clemson) started in the top four and finished there (Clemson was the only team to be somewhere in the top four in all six rankings from the committee).
In 2015 and ’16, two teams in the committee’s first four made the playoff. Both of those years, Alabama and Clemson started in the top four and never slipped out. Clemson was No. 1 in every committee top 25 in 2015 and Alabama was top-ranked in all six 2016 rankings.
The very first committee rankings, in 2014, had just one eventual playoff team. They included three teams from the Southeastern Conference (though not the one that eventually made the playoff) along with Florida State.
That year, the committee created a bit of a stir when, in its third ranking, it dropped unbeaten national champion Florida State to No. 3 behind No. 2 Oregon, which had lost a game. It seemed to send a signal the committee would be different from traditional polls that tended to honor win-loss record above all. The second-to-last rankings had Florida State at four behind three teams that had already lost. The Seminoles went into the Rose Bowl semifinal as the No. 3 seed and lost to Oregon.

Only One Was Unranked on Selection Sunday

Among the eight teams over the past four seasons that were part of the initial committee top four but did not make the playoff, only one was unranked on selection Sunday. Texas A&M in 2016 was somewhat of a surprising No. 4, and then proceeded to lose three of its final four games. Auburn (2014), LSU (2015) and Notre Dame (2017) were the other teams to start in the committee’s top four, but wind up not even making a New Year’s Six bowl.
The playoff team that made the longest climb from first committee ranking to final was Ohio State, which started 16th in 2014 and made the semifinals as the fourth seed — and won the championship. Oklahoma in 2015 was 15th in the first top 25 and fourth on selection Sunday.
The last two seasons, none of the eventual playoff teams were ranked worse than sixth (Ohio State in 2016) in the committee’s first ranking.
The committee has been criticized — by supporters of Central Florida, for example — for not ranking teams from outside the Power Five conferences high enough. UCF was No. 18 in last year’s first CFP top 25, the best showing from a Group of Five school in any of the initial rankings. The Knights finished 12th, the best ranking for any non-Power Five team in any committee rankings over the four seasons.

DON'T MISS

‘Leave It the Way It Is’: Off-Roaders, Hikers React to Proposal to Change 1.4M Acres of Sierra Forest

DON'T MISS

Yankees Retain Cole, Add $36 Million Extension to Keep Ace

DON'T MISS

5 Reasons Early Voting Is Overwhelmed With Falsehoods

DON'T MISS

Christian McCaffrey Returns to Practice for the 49ers From Achilles Tendon Injury

DON'T MISS

California Sues LA Suburb for Temporary Ban of Homeless Shelters

DON'T MISS

You May Have Blocked Someone on X but Now They Can See Your Public Posts Anyway

DON'T MISS

Some Republican-Led States Refuse to Let Justice Department Monitors Into Polling Places

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Fatal NW Apartment Shooting

DON'T MISS

Fresno Murder Suspect Stopped in Las Vegas, Others Wanted

DON'T MISS

Trump’s Crowds Are Dwindling as His Campaign Winds Down

UP NEXT

Christian McCaffrey Returns to Practice for the 49ers From Achilles Tendon Injury

UP NEXT

Bass’ Record 61-Yard Field Goal Lifts Bills Over Dolphins in Thriller

UP NEXT

Saints Fire Head Coach Dennis Allen After Seven-Game Losing Streak

UP NEXT

Raiders Fire Offensive Coordinator Luke Getsy and 2 Other Offensive Coaches

UP NEXT

Demarcus Robinson’s One-Handed Catch in OT Gives Rams Win Over Seahawks

UP NEXT

Herbert Shines, Chargers Defense Dominates in Win Over Browns

UP NEXT

Fresno State Bulldogs Stumble in Fourth Quarter, Suffer Narrow Loss to Hawai’i

UP NEXT

Two-Time Cy Young Winner Blake Snell Opts Out of Contract with Giants

UP NEXT

Seahawks Aim to Reignite Ground Game Against Rams After Recent Struggles

UP NEXT

Where Have the Top Transfers in College Basketball Landed?

Christian McCaffrey Returns to Practice for the 49ers From Achilles Tendon Injury

2 hours ago

California Sues LA Suburb for Temporary Ban of Homeless Shelters

2 hours ago

You May Have Blocked Someone on X but Now They Can See Your Public Posts Anyway

3 hours ago

Some Republican-Led States Refuse to Let Justice Department Monitors Into Polling Places

3 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Fatal NW Apartment Shooting

3 hours ago

Fresno Murder Suspect Stopped in Las Vegas, Others Wanted

4 hours ago

Trump’s Crowds Are Dwindling as His Campaign Winds Down

4 hours ago

Trump Threatens 25% Tariff on Mexico to Curb Immigration

4 hours ago

Music Legend Quincy Jones, Architect of Pop’s Greatest Hits, Dies at 91

4 hours ago

Big Pharma Backs Harris 6-to-1 Over Trump in Presidential Campaign Contributions

5 hours ago

‘Leave It the Way It Is’: Off-Roaders, Hikers React to Proposal to Change 1.4M Acres of Sierra Forest

The 1.4 million acres of Sierra National Forest land proposed for a national monument would make the land between Yosemite and Sequoia natio...

14 mins ago

14 mins ago

‘Leave It the Way It Is’: Off-Roaders, Hikers React to Proposal to Change 1.4M Acres of Sierra Forest

New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole throws against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning in Game 5 of the baseball World Series, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, in New York. (AP/Ashley Landis)
2 hours ago

Yankees Retain Cole, Add $36 Million Extension to Keep Ace

Voters cast their ballots at Desert Breeze Community Center in Las Vegas during the last day of in-person early voting in Nevada on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. Nearly 75 million people have cast early ballots, making their voices heard amid worry about the process, the outcome and democracy itself. (Bridget Bennett/The New York Times)
2 hours ago

5 Reasons Early Voting Is Overwhelmed With Falsehoods

2 hours ago

Christian McCaffrey Returns to Practice for the 49ers From Achilles Tendon Injury

2 hours ago

California Sues LA Suburb for Temporary Ban of Homeless Shelters

3 hours ago

You May Have Blocked Someone on X but Now They Can See Your Public Posts Anyway

3 hours ago

Some Republican-Led States Refuse to Let Justice Department Monitors Into Polling Places

Gerrick Franklin (pictured), 34, was taken into custody Sunday in Madera County on suspicion of killing Tyler Hamon, 33. (Fresno PD)
3 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Fatal NW Apartment Shooting

Search

Send this to a friend