5 pretenders who definitely won’t make the final College Football Playoff bracket

The first College Football Playoff rankings has been released and while there weren't any big surprises at the top — Oregon, Ohio State and Georgia are the top three in the rankings — there were some teams near the bottom of the rankings that caused fans to raise some eyebrows, either because they're ranked lower than expected (Hello, Army) or because fans were surprised to even see them in the rankings at all.

These rankings help fans get a feel for how the Selection Committee feels about each team, but we'll also look back at these rankings in a few weeks and laugh at how some teams cracked the top 25 at all. Here are five teams currently ranked in the CFP top 25 that will not be in the final bracket — or perhaps even the rankings at all — when the season concludes.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Does a two-loss Notre Dame get into the CFP? If you think yes, then the Fighting Irish are probably in the clear. If you think no, then having Army remaining on the schedule starts to look a lot scarier. That could be the swing game for Notre Dame — a win against the Black Knights might boost Notre Dame's resume enough to convince the Selection Committee, assuming Notre Dame does not drop its season finale to USC.

Beating USC is not a foregone conclusion though, and neither game will be a cakewalk by any means. Army is rolling and is squarely in the CFP conversation right now, and USC might be playing for a bowl game in its season finale. The pressure is ramping up for the Fighting Irish as the season winds down.

Ole Miss Rebels

Things are rolling for Ole Miss right now after a 63-31 win agaisnt Arkansas, but if one thing can stop a team's roll it's the Georgia Bulldogs. The Rebels host Georgia this weekend in Oxford, and while they have a shot to knock off the third-ranked Bulldogs —a win that would do wonders for their CFP profile going forward. A loss, though, effectively ends their dream, and Georgia has been winning games despite not playing its best football, meaning even a "B game" from Georgia might be too much for Ole Miss to overcome.

Jaxson Dart is trying to play his way back into the Heisman conversation, and a huge game from him will make us eat our words.

LSU Tigers

Talk about a single loss haunting a team for the rest of the season. That's the USC loss for LSU, which is currently ranked No. 15 in the CFP rankings. Without that loss to the Trojans early in the season, the Tigers would be flying high right now; but that loss paired with a loss to Texas A&M means that LSU needs to win out to sneak into the top 12.

With a game against Alabama this weekend and a game against Vanderbilt on November 23, winning out is a tall order. This team has some pretty good wins, so calling the Tigers "pretenders" might be a little harsh. Just don't hold your breath for Brain Kelly's team to make the field when its all said and done.

Clemson Tigers

With games versus Pitt, South Carolina and Virginia Tech remaining on the schedule, Clemson winning out does not seem likely. Even multiple losses seem possible, with Pitt still playing for an ACC Championship and South Carolina suddenly playing like a top 25 team itself.

Cade Klubnik was playing like a Heisman candidate for Clemson and leading a high-power offense until he posted a bit of a dud in Clemson's loss against Louisville. This team can put points on the board but needs to be perfect the rest of the way and hope for SMU or Miami to loss games. Without an ACC Championship game berth, Clemson will be left on the outside looking in.

Missouri Tigers

Someone in the Missouri program must have a contact at the AP and CFP Selection Committee (this is a joke! We're not accusing anyone of anything!)

The Tigers are ranked No. 24 right now so a flawless end to the season might push it up toward the bracket, and it doesn't have a terribly difficult schedule the rest of the way. But if this team plays its last four games like it played its first eight, then there's (at least) one more loss coming for Missou and a three-loss version of this team won't be anywhere near the bracket at season's end.