Clemson, LSU, Ohio State and one-loss Alabama are the top four teams in the initial rankings set by the College Football Playoff selection committee on Tuesday night.
Clemson is unbeaten and handed Notre Dame — the selection committee's No. 5 team — its only loss.
Selection committee chair Jeff Long said the members were impressed with Clemson’s combination of résumé — the Tigers have beaten four teams with a “better than .500 record,” a phrase he used several times and is probably destined to enter the lexicon of Playoff evaluation — and its combination of powerful offense and strong defense.
“I think that’s what won the day in the committee’s eyes for the No. 1 ranking,” he said
The Tigers are one of 11 unblemished teams in the ranking.
Alabama is not one of those teams, having lost to No. 18 Ole Miss, but the committee likes the Crimson Tide despite them having one win against teams in the Playoff top 25. Long said there was great discussion within his 12-person group of ranking a one-loss team ahead of eight of those unbeatens. Long said the committee put the Crimson Tide well ahead of another one-loss SEC team, No. 10 Florida, because Alabama has one more win against a .500-plus team than the Gators , and he indicated strength of schedule was an important consideration when evaluating Alabama against several undefeated teams.
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