Committee vs. Voters: Biggest differences between the AP Top 25 and CFP rankings
By Austen Bundy
It's finally here, the first College Football Playoff rankings are officially out and they now negate the AP Top 25 from here on out.
The CFP committee will determine who makes the expanded 12-team playoff and their rankings give us the fans a look into how they're evaluating teams in contention.
However, this week's rankings have a few stark differences from the Week 11 AP rankings, with some teams being left off entirely or dropped to eye-popping lows.
Here are the CFP and AP rankings side-by-side:
CFP Rankings | AP Top 25 |
|---|---|
No. 1 Oregon (9-0) | No. 1 Oregon |
No. 2 Ohio State (7-1) | No. 2 Georgia |
No. 3 Georgia (7-1) | No. 3 Ohio State |
No. 4 Miami (9-0) | No. 4 Miami |
No. 5 Texas (7-1) | No. 5 Texas |
No. 6 Penn State (7-1) | No. 6 Penn State |
No. 7 Tennessee (7-1) | No. 7 Tennessee |
No. 8 Indiana (9-0) | No. 8 Indiana |
No. 9 BYU (8-0) | No. 9 BYU |
No. 10 Notre Dame (7-1) | No. 10 Notre Dame |
No. 11 Alabama (6-2) | No. 11 Alabama |
No. 12 Boise State (7-1) | No. 12 Boise State |
No. 13 SMU (8-1) | No. 13 SMU |
No. 14 Texas A&M (7-2) | No. 14 LSU |
No. 15 LSU (6-2) | No. 15 Texas A&M |
No. 16 Ole Miss (7-2) | No. 16 Ole Miss |
No. 17 Iowa State (7-1) | No. 17 Iowa State |
No. 18 Pittsburgh (7-1) | No. 18 Army |
No. 19 Kansas State (7-2) | No. 19 Clemson |
No. 20 Colorado (6-2) | No. 20 Washington State |
No. 21 Washington State (7-1) | No. 21 Colorado |
No. 22 Louisville (6-3) | No. 22 Kansas State |
No. 23 Clemson (6-2) | No. 23 Pittsburgh |
No. 24 Missouri (6-2) | No. 24 Vanderbilt |
No. 25 Army (8-0) | No. 25 Louisville |
Evaluating the key differences between the CFP and AP rankings
The first difference in the two rankings is near the top, the AP voters did not reward Ohio State as much as the CFP committee did for their 21-17 victory over then-No. 3 Penn State at Happy Valley. The committee also seemingly took notice of Georgia's struggles against Florida in Week 10. It's a small difference but when it eventually comes to seeding at the end of the year it will certainly matter.
Next, the committee and AP voters disagree over the now straggling contenders in the SEC. Despite Texas A&M defeating LSU head-to-head in Week 9, the AP voters believe the Tigers should be ahead of the Aggies for now. The committee, on the other hand, seems to still value the head-to-head matchup more in this first edition, something to keep an eye on as the final month of the season progresses.
The biggest differences in the two lists comes from No. 18 and downward. These are what's considered the playoff bubble when it comes to the committee's rankings. The AP voters seem to have a better grasp on who can (and should) be on the right side of the bubble currently compared to the committee.
For example, how does undefeated Army land all the way at No. 25 in the committee's rankings and two-loss Clemson and Missouri (who are well out of their respective conference races) stay in respectable positions on the bubble? It's an a seven spot difference between the two which means the committee does not respect the AAC schedule compared to Boise State and the Mountain West.
Vanderbilt is also the only team that appears on the AP poll but not in the committee's rankings this week. Apparently a win over the No. 1 team and taking a high-quality Texas team to the brink means nothing.
These rankings will be changing dramatically over the final four weeks but it's interesting to see where the committee is prioritizing its backing of certain teams compared to where the AP voters are rewarding certain squads' accomplishments and punishing others' shortcomings.
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