College Football Playoff rankings for Dec. 2 released

By Brian Wilmer -

The College Football Playoff Rankings for Dec. 2 have been released by the Selection Committee, and the Alabama Crimson Tide remained in first place for the fourth straight week.

Alabama is followed by Oregon (2), TCU (3), and Florida State (4). Just outside the top four are Ohio State (5), Baylor (6), and Arizona (7).

One Group of Five team is in the College Football Playoff Rankings this week. Boise State (10-2) is 22nd.

“Several factors came into play as the committee compiled its rankings this week and as we always do, we started with a clean sheet of paper,” said selection chairman Jeff Long. “That means we start from scratch each week and evaluate small groups of teams against one another and create the rankings through seven rounds of voting. The committee is a group of college football experts whose task each week is to take a fresh look at the rankings 1-25.”

College Football Playoff Rankings (Dec. 2)

1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. TCU
4. Florida State
5. Ohio State
6. Baylor
7. Arizona
8. Michigan State
9. Kansas State
10. Mississippi State
11. Georgia Tech
12. Ole Miss
13. Wisconsin
14. Georgia
15. UCLA
16. Missouri
17. Arizona State
18. Clemson
19. Auburn
20. Oklahoma
21. Louisville
22. Boise State
23. Utah
24. LSU
25. USC

On Sunday, Dec. 7, the College Football Playoff Selection Committee will announce the Playoff Semifinal pairings and semifinal bowl assignments at 12:45pm ET on ESPN.

At 2:45pm ET on Dec. 7, the committee will announce the Cotton, Fiesta and Peach Bowl pairings, as well as the final top 25 rankings. They will also announce the pairing for the Orange Bowl.

CFP Rankings Release Schedule

  • Dec. 7 – 12:45pm ET, ESPN (Selection Sunday and Playoff Semifinal teams announced)
  • Dec. 7 – Bowl Selection Show, 8:30pm ET, ESPN

Comments (49)

Wow! TCU is number #3. Wonder if they will stay in top 4 if The Ohio State beats Wisconsin or will fall if FSU beat Ga.tech. If Alabama loses then there is no SEC team in, if Zona beats Oregon then I can see them jumping in top 4. Interesting.

Just one other thing.
The Buckeyes are 56-18 and 5 when facing Wisconsin. Don’t count them out so fast.

This committee is nothing but a joke. It’s honestly laughable. I am f***ing furious. With what the ACC proved this past weekend by beating four SEC teams. We proved we r a better conference than people have given us credit for. I don’t know anyone who thought we would win two of the four games. We go and win all four proving the strength of our conference and they go and rub it in the ACCs face. The fact is, they want to see Oregon and Alabama play in the championship game. They want the SEC to be best conf on east coast and want the PAC12 to be best on west coast and let them battle it out. They have discredited “winning” the reason we play, the object of the game. They are in a negative way taking advantage of a weak system. But why wouldn’t they, they have personal agenda. Why did we leave the BCS, I know everyone wasn’t happy but they got it as close to right as possible. What if they only picked two teams? Are you gonna leave FSU out even though they have won 28 straight and haven’t lost like every other team in the nation. A Joke. Bring it ACC haters and those of you who don’t think winning is the most important objective.

Not a fan of F.S. but when you go unbeaten the #1 Spot should be yours.
That being said get over it your still in, now prove to the committee they were wrong for setting you at 4th.

If FSU goes undefeated and wins the champion game, the committee will still try to vote them #2

ESecPN has a lot to do with this debacle … TCU moved up? I understand the apprehension to move Ohio State up, losing their Heisman hopeful QB prior to the season, then losing another Heisman candidate to a broken ankle their last game, but TCU is not a quality team, their conference is weak. The National selection committee should REQUIRE teams that hope to be in the final 4 to be WIN their Conference Championship game.

If The Buckeyes 3rd string QB beats the Badggers the system does not work and has not worked from day one!!!!!!!!

While I agree that TCU doesn’t deserve to be #3, it’s not because they’re not a quality team. Or because their conference is week, it’s because they shouldn’t be ranked above BAILOR! The team that beat them, and will be the true conference champ if they beat a really good KSU team Saturday! Also because FSU shouldn’t be 4th! They are the only undefeated team in the country, I hate them to but that’s the facts and they should be #1 they’ve earned it. And if Ohio State can win against Wisconsin after losing not 1 but 2 Heisman candidates this season, making them the Big10 champs with one loss. They will have played one extra game than either BAILOR or TCU, making their accomplishment even more impressive and should put them ahead of both of them! If they do this, show me a better example of resilience, fortitude and determination! Show me a better example of a great team! The only team out there that can compete with that is FSU cause they are undefeated. Go Bucks!!

Well said Tony. Completely agree. If the Buckeyes do beat the Baggers with their 3rd string qb I truly believe the committee will put them in. Jeff long did say that they were waiting until they played this weekend to make a final ruling on OSU. So I would say it looks good as long as they win. I think if FSU wins they will jump to two or three prolly three. Then it comes down to how well Ohio St and Baylor play this weekend. Why doesn’t the Big12 have a championship game? They can’t complain if they get left out and a one loss Ohio St team jumps them after winning the conference championship game.

Florida State is still in the hunt for the NC. Remember the playoff? It’s still a broken system, but a step in the right direction. Why not get rid of P-5 conferences and have 8 conferences with 16 teams? 6 playoff games instead of 2. Last two teams standing play for the NC.

A 4 Team playoff is plenty. They just need to schedule better bowls between more evenly matched opponents and the bowls will be more exciting. I know it won’t happen by they need to get as close to Having 5 play 6 and 7 play 8 and so on…

Backup folks… The toughgest game this week is Arizona – Oregon. It is so tough it would be as hard for Oregon if they were playing Alabama… If Arizona wins, they get the number 4 spot. Both Arizona & Oregon are way tougher than Florida state, and the reason FS is number 4 is because of their record, not because of their quality of play. FS is all done when they play one of the other top three teams. I suspect a blow out, especially if they play Oregon… This week, Kansas state will also win, ohio state will be out, and we will see one more upset of the top four right now…

Never count out the Buckeyes. They seem to have great QBs on that roster and know how to use them.

Wow you really need to check what’s in the col aid your drinking! LOL! Arizona’s only shot to get in is if they beat Oregon (which is possible) and at least 2 other teams in front of the lose. Good luck with that! And while yes Arizona is a good team I wouldn’t exactly say they are as good as Bama, that’s a stretch. And while FSU may have had some ugly wins this season tell me one team who hasn’t? I’m no FSU fan, but wins should matter and they are the only undefeated team, just saying! And I second the remarks about not counting out the Ohio State, Go Bucks!

From how the committee values the PAC12 I can’t help but believe they would put Arizona in. So yes if it does happen, mark my words Arizona will be in. Can’t say I entirely agree. Think the defense is pretty weak in Pac12 and Big12 and would definitely think TCU or Baylor would be more deserving than a 2 loss PAC12 team.

So what you’re saying is that if Arizona beats Oregon that they are automatically in even if the other teams win out? So that would make the top 4 in no particular order– Alabama, FSU, Arizona and the fourth team would be? Either Ohio State, Baylor or TCU. Hmmm? Well if that happens they are putting a 2 loss team in over at least two 1 loss teams from power five conferences. Two of which would be conference champs as well. Wow, if that happens then screw college football, I will still pull for my Buckeyes but if that happens then Amy Daughters was right when she wrote the article saying that it’s nothing but a popularity contest! Because then records mean nothing, what a team does on the field means nothing. If that happens it’s about nothing but money, because putting Arizona in over 1 loss teams would say having a west coast team in the playoffs is more important than what these other teams did. That would mean they are more worried about revenue than putting the best teams in the playoffs!

Unfortunately that is nothing but what I have seen from how the committee has been ranking these teams. You just asked a question about putting a two loss team in front of a one loss team. They just put 3 one loss teams in front of the only undefeated team. If you have been following all these posts and have read these articles it’s pretty easy to see. FSUs resume is worth the #1 ranking. For many reasons, only undefeated team, have played one more game at this point than TCU has, played 11 P5s, 7 bowl eligible teams, beat two top 25 teams and it’s not their fault three great out of conference programs have had a down year or so. A win is a win right? They are giving more value to winning by a larger amount and also losing than winning ALL your games by a closer margin. I guess a 14 point average margin of victory isn’t enough.
Sorry I just think it’s pretty easy to recognize what they are trying to achieve. The Pac12 and Sec did not play in one bowl game last year. They say the two best conferences are the SEC and PAC12 but yet the two best conferences don’t play. A little weird to me but now it is all coming together with their current rankings. They were setting the stage for this year. Both conferences started with highest preseason rankings that were not deserving, especially with the PAC12. The preseason rankings do set the stage for the season to a degree. They want Alabama and Oregon to meet in the championship. They want an east vs a west coast battle. They will not let Alabama and Oregon meet before the championship game and will do everything to prevent it. And they set this ridiculous stage early and will try to cheer up the FSU fans by moving them back up to third with a win. After they have one 29 straight. And don’t say that doesn’t matter because it’s a f***ing ridiculous accomplishment. Any coach would tell you that. I can’t wait for a Bama or FSU matchup. I hope they don’t slip up this week, triple option is very difficult to defend. If OSU Bama FSU and Oregon all win I will definitely be pulling for Ohio St. Trust me I don’t want to see Arizona in with two losses. I have no faith in the committee and would love it if the BCS chose the four teams or Kirk Herbstreit. No joke. Thank god my team ain’t in it. I’d loose it.

LOL, hey Patrick I’m with you on FSU getting screwed in the rankings right now. I’m pretty sure you’ve seen my opinion of that. I wasn’t even considering that they would drop the only undefeated team out for Arizona. But Jon was saying that if they would beat Oregon that they would be in at the expense of a 1 loss team just because they beat Oregon! What the hell is the world coming to? Does a teams record mean nothing anymore? If the committee disregards things like who has the best record, who won head to head, who has played and beaten the most ranked and bowl eligible teams, then what are they using for their criteria? I keep hearing about “The Eye Test”? Well that’s all well and good but how about some good old fashioned common sense! And I hope the NCdoubleAholes get off there collective asses and do some investigating on the crap at FSU. Oh and on a personal note hope your Clemson Tigers get it together for next year and beat the hell out of FSU man, haha!

Watch Out..! Vegas odds are way off ! ! !

Alabama 41 – Missouri – 27
Oregon – 37 – Arizona – 34
TCU – 44 – Iowa state – 23
Florida state – 31 – Georgia Tech – 35

Out of the top 4 teams 3 will lose and 1 will win. That team is Obama.
That’s what i believe will happen, but that’s just how I fell. Personaly I
hope they all fall…

John spare us. FSU is the only undefeated team in the nation and has won their last 28 straight for a reason. The ACC is under ranked and somehow didn’t gain any more respect after going 4-0 against the SEC. For those of you interested in a good read, Check this article out, http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blogpost?blogname=acc&id=77864&src=desktop
You guys can hate on whoever or whatever it is about the ACC but those of you that do are wrong. FSU is deserving of the #1 ranking for a number of reasons. Believe it or not it is a team game. Jameis did throw 3 picks in the first qtr. Those things happen and have happened to every other team. But FSU is the only one that hasn’t lost those games. It’s a team game and someone/group has been continuing to come through. This week it was the defense. They threw 3 picks and gave up 9 points. What winning teams do. The committee wants to try and differentiate between minute differences in strength of schedules with teams that don’t even have the same record. How can you do that when you have a team like FSU that has won 28 straight? You can not control the record of the teams on your schedule. It isn’t their fault one good program in Oklahoma St and two great programs in Florida and Notre Dame have had down years. Who would actually feel content with them not making the playoff this year if they do beat GT? Anyone? This is the bar the committee has set. Let’s just say Ohio St was undefeated, quite possible, FSU would be left out. Left out for not winning well enough when other teams in front of them didn’t even win. Think of that…. Any thoughts? They have taken what was pure and pissed on it. Bias bias bias.

Its probably like that because all of their wins have basically came from the 2 half

No if FSU and OSU were both undefeated right now FSU would be #3 and OSU would be 4, if for no other reason than we lost JT Barrett, also because the media has loved to hate on us for years! So I feel your pain! I also agree FSU deserves to be #1, even though I can’t stand them LOL! And should it matter that they have had to come back in the second half to win games? The important thing is they have done it every time. And would it be any better if they had gotten early big leads, then just barely held on to win in the end? What’s the difference? They win! That’s all that should matter! Just like BAILOR beat TCU and have the same record in the same conference, but somehow are still ranked beneath them? Stupid!! I just hope OSU wins Saturday and somehow gets the recognition they deserve and get the chance to play in the playoffs! Go Bucks!

Alabama is there mostly because of pedigree but also because they get to play in an overrated conference that self perpetuates its own importance.

Oregon has earned a spot in the playoff. They are incredibly fun to watch.

TCU has earned a spot in the playoff. That defense will give anyone heartburn.

FSU as a #1? hahaha Ridiculous! They are so lucky to be holding onto the #4 spot.

I’m liking this Committee so far. It takes the BCS bias away and introduces a human element that can rationalize and justify. It’s not a perfect system but it’s better than before and sure makes the season more fun to follow.

It’s been noticeable over the years but finally the Big 12 and Pac 12 are getting recognized for the legitimate quality of their conferences and not just the East Coast bias.
http://espn.go.com/blog/big12/post/_/id/93344/power-rankings-big-12-not-sec-is-no-1

FSU deserves recognition for being the only team in the nation that has not lost a game. That should count for more that some funky TCU team who had a pretty weak schedule and what is more ridiculous is that their conference decided to just declare them the winner. This whole system is screwed up and I think the computers did an better job of picking teams without the bias of personalities involved. The AP poll got it right.

May, they’ve got recognition, that’s why they are in top 4. I just don’t understand the fury of FSU fans, with the neutral site games who the hell cares if you are #1, #2, #3 or #4? Win the ACC and you are IN, and you’ve gonna have a chance to prove yourselves worthy and the doubters wrong, that’s all.

I care and I am not a FSU fan one bit. And it does matter greatly, maybe not for this year but years to come. What if Ohio St was undefeated; as they could easily be and will continue to be as long as the have Urban Myer and are in the Big10. Right now based on their rankings, undefeated FSU who has won 28 straight and are defending national champions would be left out. Does that make sense? Any f***ing sense? None whatsoever. Oh yeah they scheduled Oklahoma st, Notre Dame and Florida, all three great programs. You can’t punish FSU for three great programs having down years.

It’s simple. Every year it’s the TOP 25 if that’s true then have the top 25 all in the playoffs.
Plus give one team a wildcard spot. Now if your team is the best Prove it.

If The Ohio State & FSU both win Saturday, I bet they both jump over TCU just based on who their playing. TCU has Iowa St, does not matter if they win by 56pts, if Bama, Oregon, The Ohio St & FSU win, their in. Baylor & Zona are the only two teams that can pop in just in case TCU loses & Baylor beats K-State & Zona beats Oregon.

Hey May…did you not read the conference Power Rankings link? Three of the current CFP finalists come from the toughest three conference. Add in FSU and you have to add in the 5th strongest conference.

The Big 12 is stacked this year it appears. They are allowing the Committee to pick the best team since there is a guaranteed co-champion situation. It’s pretty amazing the Big 12 has three teams in the Top 10 for all polls that matter; CFP, AP, and Coaches.

Come on Hoops! You can’t have it both ways! Remember this catchy little slogan? “10 teams, 9 games, 1 true champion” why a crock! That was your beloved Big 12 slogan until they realized that that the committee had TCU ranked above BAILOR and that if they crowned BAILOR the true champ it could drop the Big12 completely out of the playoffs so the hypocrites changed the rules to their own conference champions to hedge their bets! And the Big12 is stacked? Show me how! How many ranked teams do they have left? How many teams right now, and how many did TCU and BAILOR beat? They beat 2 a piece! And if Ohio State beats Wisconsin they will have beaten the same amount of ranked teams, but they will have also beaten more bowl eligible teams and be a true conference Champion who had to win one more game than either of your Big12 co-champions!

Ohio State can do it. If Ohio State is in the playoff they will most likely be ranked 4th.

These should be the top ten playoff rankings be in my head
1.Alabama
2.Oregon
3.Florida state
4.Baylor
5.Ohio state
6.Auburn
7.Michigan Sate
8.Georgia
9.Mississippi state
10.Wisconsin
Doe any body think this right

Not sure but it kind of seems like you ranked those teams based on if they played their best football, that would be their ranking. But you can’t just look at one game that’s why there is the entire season. FSU is deserving of #1, have beaten 7 bowl eligible teams only one less than national leading Alabama and the obvious, they are the only undefeated team. Who cares Alabama and Oregon should be 2 or 3. Hands down two best one loss teams. I think you would have a strong case for all three of TCU, Baylor, Ohio St being ranked forth. I personally think head to head should mean more but TCU may just be the better team. I would definitely say Ohio st should be forth if they hadn’t lost two Qbs. But then again it is a team game and they do have Urban Myer. He may be the best coach in all of college football so who can honestly count them out. Depending on which defense shows up I think that Arizona can be just as good as OSU, TCU & Baylor. Other than those seven who really cares. Peoples own personal bias will directly influence the rest. They all have flaws and have lost too many games. I definitely think I could make a case that 11 through 20 could beat your 6 through 10 rankings. I think the committee has the correct top 6 but definitely in the wrong order.

A good top 15 if u look at where people stand and what they’ve accomplished should look something like this,
1. FSU
2. Oregon
3. Alabama
4. Ohio State
5. Baylor
6. TCU
7. Arizona
8. Michigan State
9. Wisconsin
10. Geogia Tech
11. Kansas State
12. Mississippi State
13. Missouri
14. Ole Miss
15. Arizona State

That’s just my opinion, what do u think of that? I also believe that for the most part with the exception of 2 maybe 3 of the teams on my list who I think may have overachieved all of these teams are very very close!

Do any of you people have jobs, or a life? What plays out, plays out. Stop trying to be a Vegas handicapper and stay in your Easy chairs!

No jobs, no lives, just college football. Haha. But if you want to learn something take some advice and get to readin Bo.

As upsetting you may be, the truth although FSU undefeated, Oregon arebrank in the top four in the past four season straight. The playoff system is in play to avoid two teams from to same conference from playing each other like that of LSU and Bama a fews a years ago. The only potential match up would TCU vs. Bama for the BCS.L.J.

Live in hawaii know of Marcus mariota from his high school days fun to watch back too. Think their is east coast bias in selection committee

You guys do realize these are a bunch of college students out there playing some football and that honestly it’s college football and anything can happen. The Ohio state destroyed Wisconsin, FSU undefeated. I’ve liked both these teams since I was young, only two teams I’d use on gamebreaker lol for those who remember the gamebreaker days. I think you pit the two teams shove shown the most guts this season. Two storied programs with amazing coaches and players . A team who lost two heisman candidates in a single season to have a third string quarterback come in and lead a team to victory, showing the obvious that they are not only good at the quarterback position but they are a damn good team as a whole. Then you have another who is a returning champion target on their backs! Who will be the first to blemish FSU and their 29-0 streak! They fought of every onslaught and found victory, not much unlike a certain 2002 championship team that I loved every minute watching. Family and I used to joke around the cardiac kids we’d call em because every gave was a battle but they always came out on top. Last years FSU squad was the same and just as fun to watch as this years true champions. Pit these programs against the beloved east coast love oregon who if I’m not mistake I’ve seen fall to Ohio state in years past with “unbeatable” ducks written all over the media. Pit them against Alabama, FSU stopped the SEC once, they can very well do it again. Ohio state has gotten dominated by sec in the past? But since when with urban Meyer? The kids who play now? Sec is due to fall off. FSU can’t keep up with oregon? Youre gravely mistaken if you think you could count out a team coming off a championship, they know that glory and if you haven’t watched FSU play.. When it counts, they refuse to let that glory be ripped away from them. Championships are not won by who has the coolest stuff, who everyone thinks is the best, how well the media portrays you. Championships are won in the background by the individuals who sweat the most, work the hardest and overcome the biggest obstacles, no matter the odds. Put style points against raw determination.

Why not continue to use the former BCS ranking system to puck the top 25 teams and simply have the BCS top 4 teams in the playoffs? Why the need for a 12 member committee? And just what qualifies a “Selection Committee Member” to be a “NCAA Expert” ??? It seems every so called college football “Expert” has different opinions, likes, dislikes, bias, etc… Whereas computers do not.