For the last few months now, the AP Top 25 poll has been our guiding light toward who is good and maybe who isn't across major college football. The poll for the upcoming Week 10 slate came out on Sunday afternoon around its usual time of 2:00 p.m. ET. Its top six teams are in the following order: Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, Florida State, Washington and Oregon. All are real playoff contenders.
However, the College Football Playoff Selection Committee goes about things a little differently. It falls out of Boo Corrigan's apple tree on the reg, so be prepared for pretty much anything. How the Selection Committee goes about its business is a little unorthodox. They group teams based on clusters and arrive at their unified conclusion that not even Corrigan might even totally agree with...
So with that in mind, how the AP Top 25 looks will differ from what the Selection Committee decides. There will be teams that the Selection Committee shafts that the AP voters are madly in love with. Conversely, the Selection Committee may hype up a three-loss team more than anyone with a brain ever should. Regardless, Tuesday nights on ESPN are now appointment television, so buckle up, gang!
Here are five teams who may be higher, or lower, in the first CFP rankings compared to the AP Top 25.
5 teams who could be in different spots in AP Top 25 and CFP rankings
Georgia Bulldogs could be lower than No. 1
I would not agree with this at all, but I can understand how the Selection Committee can find a way to not have the undefeated, two-time reigning national champion Georgia Bulldogs at No. 1. They are 8-0 and have not lost a game in almost two years. In fact, the Dawgs have not lost a regular-season game since falling to Dan Mullen's Florida Gators in the 2020 World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.
What this could all come down to is Georgia's resume being valued more than the proverbial eye test. The Dawgs' two best wins thus far are blowout victories over Kentucky at home and Florida in Jacksonville. Precedent shows the Selection Committee could dock Georgia and have them at No. 3. If they do that, you can pretty much guarantee that the Missouri Tigers are going to lose in Athens...
Even if the Dawgs were No. 2 or No. 3, wins over Mizzou, Ole Miss and Tennessee will change that.
Michigan Wolverines could be higher than No. 2
The argument for Michigan being the top team in the sport is a compelling one. The Wolverines have dominated the Big Ten for the better part of three years now. Have they gotten help from advanced scouting throughout? Maybe not anymore. Regardless, Michigan has an innate ability to squish the opposition, unless that opposition is playing them in a neutral-site location in the national semifinals.
Of the 63 AP Top 25 ballots cast, Michigan received the second-most first-place votes with nine. While that is six more than the three Ohio State and Florida State got, it is still 39 less than what Georgia received at 48. Michigan has been more dominant than Georgia at times this season, but in the last two postseasons, Georgia is 4-0 with a win over Michigan, while the Wolverines are sadly 0-2.
I would not agree with Michigan being at No. 1, but they are one of three teams with a real case for it.
Ohio State Buckeyes could be higher than No. 3
Outside of Georgia and Michigan, the only other team with any real chance at being No. 1 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings would have to be the Ohio State Buckeyes. All three are at 8-0 on the season, but the Buckeyes have the two best wins: at Notre Dame by a field goal and home vs. a Penn State team that may be massively overrated. Notre Dame is good, but Penn State has its issues.
These are clearly the three best teams in the country right now, although fans of the Florida State Seminoles and the Washington Huskies would beg to differ. To me, Ohio State's resume does more for me than the eye test does. Head-to-head, I would take the Bulldogs and the Wolverines over them on a neutral site. This team can win a national championship, but quarterback play is a major concern.
Ohio State could be ranked anywhere between first, second and third in the initial playoff rankings.
Oregon Ducks could be lower than No. 6
Besides who should be No. 1, one of the other great debates to be had in the first CFP rankings will have to be who are the first two teams out. While I would have Florida State in at No. 4 over Washington at No. 5, those teams are locks to be inside of the top six. Not to say it will fall that way entirely, but we are closer to a consensus with the Seminoles being just ahead of the Huskies here.
But as far as who could be that No. 6 team, the AP thinks it is Oregon. I am not so sure about that. The Ducks do have one of the best losses on the season, a narrow defeat to Washington in Seattle for their border war. However, I have my reservations about the Ducks meeting the Huskies in Las Vegas for a rematch. I might be proven wrong, but that blowout win of Utah in Salt Lake does not do it for me.
Personally, I would have the Ducks slotted in at No. 7 ahead of the Alabama Crimson Tide at No. 8.
Texas Longhorns could be higher than No. 7
Of the top six, this is the hardest one for me to discern. I go back and forth on this, but I kind of like Texas at No. 6 over Oregon this week. Even though the Longhorns are without Quinn Ewers, Maalik Murphy showed us all that he can be a star under center in a Power Five offense. Oh, the Longhorns could make me look like an idiot and lose at home to No. 25 Kansas State this upcoming Saturday.
However, I do not trust Bo Nix at all. The win over Utah at Rice-Eccles was a rarity for him, as in a big-time win on the road over a team worth a damn. Then again, Utah is not the same team with Bryson Barnes playing quarterback for the Utes over Cam "Black Smoke" Rising. Thus, I have to reward Texas for beating Alabama and the Longhorns' only loss being to arch-rival Oklahoma in Red River by three.
For now, Texas feels like the Big 12's best bet to send its champion into the College Football Playoff.
