Undefeated Oregon got top billing Tuesday in the first set of rankings on the road to college football’s new 12-team playoff.
A 13-member selection committee released its first top-25 list, and saw what most of the country has seen this year — that with a 9-0 record, five wins in the Big Ten by three touchdowns or more, and a key victory over Ohio State, coach Dan Lanning’s Ducks are the best in the country.
One-loss teams Ohio State, Georgia and Miami were ranked 2, 3 and 4, respectively, in this, the first of six weekly polls the committee will release, culminating with the Dec. 8 rankings that will be used to slot teams into a bracket. Alabama was ranked No. 11 — the only two-loss team to crack a top 12 that mirrored the AP‘s latest poll in every spot except Nos. 2 and 3, where the Buckeyes and Bulldogs were flipped.
The playoffs start Dec. 20-21, with the 5-12 seeds in action at the better seed’s home field, and close with the national title game in Atlanta on Jan. 20.
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