First 2018 College Football Playoff rankings: Alabama No. 1, Notre Dame sneaks in

The first College Football Playoff rankings are out and to the surprise of no one, Alabama is the top team, but who makes up the rest of the top 4?

Before the biggest weekend of the year in college football, until conference championship weekend, we have the first release of the College Football Playoff rankings. Unlike past years, there wasn’t a ton of drama this year, which made the idea for an entire hour for ESPN to tease the rankings out a bit much. This year, fans who have followed the sport all year had a really great idea who the top four teams would be well before the rankings were publicized.

The only debate was the order of the top four.

To the surprise of nobody, Alabama took the top spot. The Crimson Tide will look to become the first team ranked No. 1 in the initial rankings to win the National Championship Game. Mississippi State, Clemson, Alabama and Georgia have failed to go all the way when debuting on top.

Clemson checked in at No. 2 and if the top two spots hold out, fans could be headed for a third National Championship Game between Alabama.

A mild surprise with LSU coming in at No. 3, but it’s not a surprise they’re in the top four. I thought they would get the fourth spot, behind undefeated Notre Dame. But it’s Ed Orgeron’s Tigers getting the third spot despite having a loss at Florida on their resume. No. 3 LSU will host No. 1 Alabama on Saturday, so there could be a new team in the top four next week.

I was curious to see where UCF would fall entering the release. They didn’t get any respect last year so I wasn’t expecting a sudden change of heart despite the Knights remaining undefeated and winners of 20 straight games. They debuted at No. 18 last year but came in at No. 12, which is higher than anticipated, but I’m skeptical they can get close to sniffing the top four.

First 2018 College Football Playoff rankings

1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. LSU
4. Notre Dame
5. Michigan
6. Georgia
7. Oklahoma
8. Washington State
9. Kentucky
10. Ohio State
11. Florida
12. UCF
13. West Virginia
14. Penn State
15. Utah
16. Iowa
17. Texas
18. Mississippi State
19. Syracuse
20. Texas A&M
21. NC State
23. Boston College
23.Fresno State
24. Iowa State
25. Virginia

There are still five weeks of games to play out so there is plenty of moving up and down for teams, so don’t worry if your team didn’t crack the top four today.

Looking at the initial College Football Playoff rankings, what teams did you think was ranked too high or too low? Sound off and let your voice be heard in the comments.