The first College Football Playoff rankings of the year are set to come out this Tuesday, and fans everywhere are anxious to see how the committee rates these teams that have, for now, figured out a pretty solid niche in the AP rankings.
This year, the committee is bringing a new metric into their considerations, as they have announced that Strength of Record (or "SOR") will be incorporated into the weekly rankings that they put out. That is a change from before, as it was more overall record as well as the nebulous "quality wins" and "quality losses" that were considered— SOR more so formalizes the spirit of what the committee was trying to do with that rather unscientific methodology.
The result here is that we could see a no. 1 team that is different than what we're looking at when it comes to the Coach's Poll and the AP Poll. That team very well may be your Texas A&M Aggies.
College Football Playoff 12-team rankings prediction: Texas A&M could nab top spot
Texas A&M currently has the top SOR in the nation per both the FPI Ratings from ESPN and FEI Ratings, a well-trusted independent college football ranking system. That's why they're in the no. 1 spot in these projections:
Name | Ranking |
|---|---|
Texas A&M | 1 |
Indiana | 2 |
Ohio State | 3 |
Alabama | 4 |
BYU | 5 |
Georgia | 6 |
Oregon | 7 |
Texas Tech | 8 |
Ole Miss | 9 |
Notre Dame | 10 |
Virginia | 11 |
Oklahoma | 12 |
I think the committee ends up honoring BYU's undefeated record a little more than other polls have, especially considering how well their win over Utah is aging. Alabama's record in a very tough run of games will still put them above BYU, though, especially since that FSU loss is so long ago now.
The strength of the Notre Dame win and others on the SEC schedule will be what lifts Texas A&M to that top spot, though, if that indeed is what happens. Win this weekend on the road at Missouri to get your third road SEC win in a row, and I think they start to get a chokehold on that top spot— at least until conference championship weekend. For now, we'll just have to see how things shake out.