The first of five College Football Playoff rankings was announced Tuesday, and yes, there were some surprises, even in the top four, where No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Clemson and No. 4 Ohio State set a somewhat predictable stage for an otherwise historically unpredictable season.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the first rankings:
That was the door slamming on BYU
Not only is No. 14 BYU out of reach of the playoff, but the undefeated Cougars (9-0) also aren't starting in position to reach a New Year's Six bowl. (Teams slotted into the most prestigious bowls typically fall within the first 12 spots.) This is quite the indictment of BYU's weak schedule, which doesn't include any Power 5 opponents and boasts only three wins by the Cougars against FBS teams above .500 (Boise State, Louisiana Tech and UTSA). BYU also has a win against FCS North Alabama (0-4).
That raises the question: Does it even matter if BYU is able to add a Pac-12 opponent to its schedule? The Cougars don't play again until Dec. 12 in their regular-season finale against San Diego State, so the program has been searching for a worthy opponent during the long break.
A source told ESPN that Washington made every effort to schedule BYU, but the Cougars declined. It's tricky for nonconference teams to commit to playing the Pac-12 because if the league has a team come available by Thursday of game week, the conference matchup takes priority, and the nonconference opponent gets bumped after preparing all week.
"We have a lot of respect for Washington and a lot of respect for the Pac-12," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. "We had a great practice in hopes of playing Washington. We game-planned and did all our meetings last night with hopes of playing Washington ... it just didn't work out for whatever reason.
"But there's this narrative out that we were hiding or ducking or waiting, and that's just not true. ... I want to make sure everybody understands that we aren't afraid of anybody. We will respect everyone we play, but there's no fear in this. ... Hopefully we can do a lot and we have two weeks left that are open, December 5 and 19, that we're willing to play football ... and if there's anybody that actually has availability to play those games, we would like to do it."
It doesn't seem as if that will benefit the Cougars enough. BYU is ranked behind three two-loss teams: No. 9 Georgia (5-2), No. 11 Oklahoma (6-2) and No. 13 Iowa State (6-2). If the Cougars are going to earn a spot in a New Year's Six bowl, they're going to need some losses above them -- and apparently, two isn't enough.
It just means more to the committee
The SEC has four teams in the top 10, including two-loss Georgia at No. 9. This is the head-scratcher. Sure, you can file the two L's under "good losses," as they were to No. 1 Alabama and No. 6 Florida, but Georgia also lost the two games that mattered the most, leaving the Bulldogs with only one win against a team with a winning record, Auburn (5-2). Georgia's wins have come against opponents with a combined 15-22 record.
The committee also rewarded No. 5 Texas A&M (5-1), which hasn't played in two weeks because of COVID-19 contact tracing issues, for its head-to-head win against No. 6 Florida. That is the Aggies' only win against a team with a winning record.
The committee's high regard for the SEC in this first ranking does two things: First, it positions the SEC for a decent run at two teams in the playoff if Florida wins the East and beats Alabama in the SEC championship game. Florida would be in with the SEC title, and it would be hard for the committee to leave out the Tide if their only loss were to the Gators in the conference championship game.
Having Georgia at No. 9 also helps justify the Gators' being ranked ahead of undefeated Cincinnati (8-0). A top-10 win over Georgia is better than any win the Bearcats have, though their collective résumé makes a stronger case.
One-loss Clemson is ahead of undefeated Ohio State
It isn't unusual for an undefeated team to be ranked below a one-loss team, even within the top four (this happened to Florida State repeatedly in the first season of the playoff). This particular instance makes sense because Clemson has played twice as many games (eight) as Ohio State (four), the Tigers are ranked in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, and their only loss was to a top-four Notre Dame team in double overtime. Combine those factors with Ohio State's struggles in its win against Indiana -- three interceptions, plus giving up almost 500 passing yards -- and it's easy to see why the committee went this way.
The question is: Does it matter?
It sure does. The No. 1 team faces the No. 4 team in a semifinal. Who wants to start the playoff against Alabama? It also matters because the committee showed No. 8 Northwestern (5-0) a lot of respect. The undefeated Wildcats are leading the Big Ten's West division and on track to face the Buckeyes in the Big Ten championship game. If Northwestern wins, the Wildcats are all but guaranteed a playoff spot.
As for Ohio State? This makes it much more difficult to sneak in as a Big Ten runner-up. Meanwhile, with Notre Dame and Clemson at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, it remains quite possible that they both finish in the top four if Clemson finishes as a one-loss conference champion and the Irish lose only to Clemson in the ACC title game.
The Pac-12 is playing from behind
You have to look all the way down at No. 15 to find the Pac-12's highest-ranked team, Oregon (3-0). The Ducks have played only three games, and that seems to have hurt them a bit, but so has the fact that they haven't looked dominant in any of those three wins and haven't played a ranked opponent. The fact that they are behind BYU (see above) should cause the same concerns.
The difference between Oregon and BYU, though, is that the Ducks can still punctuate their résumé with a conference title. Also, it would likely be against a ranked opponent. There's still time for the Ducks to move up, and they have better opportunities to do so than BYU.
Cincinnati is status quo
The No. 7 spot isn't really a surprise, though the Bearcats certainly had a case to climb as high as No. 5. Regardless, their situation remains the same: The Bearcats need to finish as an undefeated AAC champion and hope for chaos above them. It did help that the committee put Tulsa at No. 25 because Cincinnati ends its regular season Dec. 12 at Tulsa.