Tennessee football at No. 1 in College Football Playoff ranking: See the full list
Adam SparksTennessee football is ranked No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff ranking.
The other top teams include No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Georgia, No. 4 Clemson, No. 5 Michigan, No. 6 Alabama, No. 7 TCU, No. 8 Oregon, No. 9 Southern Cal and No. 10 LSU.
Tennessee (8-0, 4-0 SEC) plays Georgia (8-0, 5-0) on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS) in Athens, Georgia. The game will have a strong bearing on next week’s rankings and beyond.
Alabama (7-1, 4-1) also faces a tough test at LSU (6-2, 4-1) on Saturday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN).
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The College Football Playoff selection committee released its first ranking Tuesday night. It will release new rankings each Tuesday in November and announce its final selections on Dec. 4, following the conference championship games.
There’s a lot of football ahead. But this first ranking gives some clarity to teams’ path to the four-team College Football Playoff.
This season’s playoff semifinals will be played Dec. 31 at the Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, Arizona) and Peach Bowl (Atlanta). The national championship game will be Jan. 9 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
How resumes of playoff contenders compare
There are six undefeated teams remaining, but that will change with head-to-head games.
Tennessee is ranked No. 1 in strength of record, according to ESPN. That rank reflects the chance that an average Top 25 team would have the same record or better given its schedule.
It’s a combination of the Vols’ strength of schedule (No. 19) and undefeated record. They have wins over currently ranked teams Alabama, LSU and Kentucky, according to the AP Top 25 and USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll. They also beat Pittsburgh and Florida, who were ranked when they played.
Ohio State (8-0) is No. 2 in strength of record and No. 52 in strength of schedule. It has a ranked win over Penn State, and the Buckeyes beat Notre Dame when it was ranked.
TCU (8-0) is No. 3 in strength of record and No. 63 in strength of schedule. It has ranked wins over Oklahoma State and Kansas State. And it beat Oklahoma and Kansas when they were ranked.
Clemson (8-0) is No. 4 in strength of record and No. 72 in strength of schedule. It has ranked wins over Wake Forest, North Carolina State and Syracuse.
Georgia, the defending national champion, is No. 5 in strength of record and No. 75 in strength of schedule. It has a ranked win over Oregon in the season opener.
Michigan (8-0) is No. 7 in strength of record and No. 79 in strength of schedule. It has a ranked win over Penn State.
Alabama’s lone loss was against Tennessee. The Crimson Tide is No. 6 in strength of record and No. 6 in strength of schedule. It beat Arkansas and Mississippi State when they were ranked.
College Football Playoff Top 25 rankings
1. Tennessee (8-0)
2. Ohio State (8-0)
3. Georgia (8-0)
4. Clemson (8-0)
5. Michigan (8-0)
6. Alabama (7-1)
7. TCU (8-0)
8. Oregon (7-1)
9. USC (7-1)
10. LSU (6-2)
11. Ole Miss (8-1)
12. UCLA (7-1)
13. Kansas State (6-2)
14. Utah (6-2)
15. Penn State (6-2)
16. Illinois (7-1)
17. North Carolina (7-1)
18. Oklahoma State (6-2)
19. Tulane (7-1)
20. Syracuse (6-2)
21. Wake Forest (6-2)
22. NC State (6-2)
23. Oregon State (6-2)
24. Texas (5-3)
25. UCF (6-2)
Reach Adam Sparks at adam.sparks@knoxnews.com and on Twitter @AdamSparks.