Winners and losers from the first College Football Playoff rankings in 2023

The first College Football Playoff rankings are here. After voting and debating in Grapevine, TX throughout Tuesday, the Selection Committee revealed its initial Top 25 CFP rankings.

Ryan Day's Ohio State Buckeyes came in as the No. 1 team in the first rankings of the season, putting them in the driver's seat to make it back to the College Football Playoff once again. Rounding out the Top 4 was the Georgia Bulldogs at No. 2, Michigan Wolverines at No. 3, and Florida State Seminoles at No. 4. The Washington Huskies and Oregon Ducks came in at Nos. 5 and 6, the first two teams out.

There is a lot of college football left to be played this season, and things will change quite a bit from the first CFP rankings. However, starting position and the contenders around teams in the rankings matter. So with that, let's take a look at the winners and losers from the first CFP rankings.

First CFP Rankings Winner: Ohio State Buckeyes

If most college football fans were grading with the eye test, there's not a shot in hell that the Ohio State Buckeyes would be the No. 1 team in the initial College Football Playoff rankings. This team has gotten off to an undefeated start, but they've also looked entirely beatable in some of their biggest wins and even in some of their less impressive wins -- this past week at Camp Randall against Wisconsin being part of that.

However, it's clear that the Selection Committee is looking at the resumé and strength of record for Ohio State, which is why they are the No. 1 team in the rankings. Wins over Notre Dame in South Bend and over Penn State in Columbus comprise the best pair of wins that any team, undefeated teams specifically, have in the country right now.

We didn't know how heavily that the commitee would weigh eye test and resumé, but a focus on the latter for the Buckeyes makes them a clear winner.

First CFP Rankings Loser: Penn State Nittany Lions

Make no mistake, with the way James Franklin's Penn State Nittany Lions have played over the past two weeks in a loss to the aforementioned Buckeyes and a narrow win over lowly Indiana, dropping them outside of the Top 10 makes a lot of sense.

Having said that, when you look at this Penn State team, particularly with the hype around the Nittany Lions coming into the season, seeing them as having just one loss with some dominant performances against subpar competition on their resumé to this poiint -- and with that one loss coming against the No. 1-ranked team -- it does seem a bit harsh to have them behind Ole Miss and Oklahoma in the first CFP rankings.

Even with a win over Michigan that could, in theory, push Penn State into the Big Ten Championship Game, coming in at No. 11 indeed makes it quite difficult for the Nittany Lions to see a path into the Top 4 by season's end. It's not impossible, but it's most certainly not probable with these first rankings shaking out the way they did.