Well folks, it is that time of year. The initial round of the CFB Playoff rankings have been released. Needless to say, controversy immediately followed. The top 4 teams, or the ones that would make the playoff are 1. Ohio State, 2. LSU, 3. Alabama, and 4. Penn State. The first two out are currently 5. Clemson, and 6. Georgia. The rankings are put out by a 13 member committee, and 4 more sets of rankings will be released each tuesday until the final list, and the actual playoff teams are released Sunday, December 8.
Ohio State has had a stellar year under new coach Ryan Day. Day had extremely big shoes to fill after Urban Meyer’s departure. However, this team has consistently been underrated the entire year. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that people finally realized that the Buckeyes are a real team. 8-0 in the Big Ten is not an easy task. Their defense is elite, and their offense is explosive. I look forward to watching them the rest of the season.
LSU is my pick to win this year. This is the best team LSU has had in recent memory. Coach Ed Orgeron has consistently stolen recruits from Alabama, and their team is deep. QB Joe Burrow is playing the best football of his life. In addition, their defensive secondary is perhaps one of the best in the SEC. They play Alabama this Saturday, the game the entire nation will be watching.
Alabama is a fairly untested team. I feel as though their name is carrying their ranking. They have only played one ranked team in 24, Texas A&M. Besides that, they have just been blowing out unranked teams. This year their defense is not as good as years past, yet the kind of offenses they have been facing have not been serious, so they appear good. I look forward to watching them have their first test this Saturday vs. LSU.
Penn State at 4 is a bold statement. Beating out the defending national champions in Clemson is quite controversial. They are a good team, but the SEC vs. Big Ten debate is normally one that is won by the SEC. The only thing they can do to defend this ranking is keep winning. This should be easy for them, as this is their best defense in the James Franklin era.
There are still four more ranking sets to come out, but look for LSU and Ohio state to stay at 1 and 2, respectively. Those bottom two spots will be fought for heavily, and you can look forward to some great college football in the coming weeks, Saints.