College Football Computer Rankings: Clemson Takes Over 1st

October 28, 2018 by CFP Staff

With Alabama enjoying a bye week, Clemson went to Tallahassee and crushed Florida State 59-10 to do all it could to impress the College Football Playoff Committee which will release its first rankings of the season on Tuesday night. The committee is expected to have Alabama No. 1, followed by Clemson and Notre Dame. The computer now has Clemson ahead of Alabama, with Notre Dame third.

The Tigers, Tide and Irish are the only three remaining undefeated teams in Power 5 conferences.

Michigan figures to have the upper hand for fourth since the Wolverines' only loss came to Notre Dame on opening weekend. Also in the mix are LSU, Oklahoma and Georgia. Florida would have had a reasonable shot at 4th or 5th had the Gators not lost to Georgia on Saturday.

One of the biggest questions waiting to be answered is whether or not UCF will land a spot in the top 10. The Knights will surely be the highest-ranked team from the Group of Five conferences as the defending American Conference champs are the only other undefeated team in the FBS and are riding a 20-game winning streak.

The computer rankings have 'Bama behind Clemson, with Notre Dame 3rd and Oklahoma 4th. Michigan is 5th, ahead of Ohio State. Then comes Georgia, LSU and Kentucky.

That means the computer has four SEC members in the top 9, but the Big Ten actually has the most in the top 25 with 7. The SEC has 6, followed by the Big 12 and PAC-12 with 3 each, while the ACC and the Mountain West have 2-apiece. Notre Dame is the lone Independent in the top 25.

The highest-ranked team from Conference USA is Alabama-Birmingham at No. 39. The Blazers' program was resurrected last year after a two-year hiatus that stemmed  from funding issues. The Blazers are 7-1 overall and 5-0 in the conference.

The top team from the MAC is Buffalo. The Bulls climbed from No. 50 to No. 41 this week, even though they were idle.

The top Sun Belt team last week was Appalachian State at No. 37, but the Mountaineers lost 34-14 at Georgia Southern on Thursday. As a result, Appalachian State fell to No. 50, and the Eagles rose to No. 45.

View the full Top 130.