College Football Playoff Rankings 2014: Twitter Reacts to Week 10 Reveal
The first rankings for the 2014 College Football Playoff were released Tuesday night. With how much controversy the BCS standings have generated in the past, it was going to be fascinating to see what the new system's 12-person selection committee produced.
Here is a look at the hierarchy in the eyes of those who will judge the four postseason participants worthy of battling for the national championship:
| 1 | Mississippi State | 7-0 |
| 2 | Florida State | 7-0 |
| 3 | Auburn | 6-1 |
| 4 | Ole Miss | 7-1 |
| 5 | Oregon | 7-1 |
| 6 | Alabama | 7-1 |
| 7 | TCU | 6-1 |
| 8 | Michigan State | 7-1 |
| 9 | Kansas State | 6-1 |
| 10 | Notre Dame | 6-1 |
| 11 | Georgia | 6-1 |
| 12 | Arizona | 6-1 |
| 13 | Baylor | 6-1 |
| 14 | Arizona State | 6-1 |
| 15 | Nebraska | 7-1 |
| 16 | Ohio State | 6-1 |
| 17 | Utah | 6-1 |
| 18 | Oklahoma | 5-2 |
| 19 | LSU | 7-2 |
| 20 | West Virginia | 6-2 |
| 21 | Clemson | 6-2 |
| 22 | UCLA | 6-2 |
| 23 | East Carolina | 6-1 |
| 24 | Duke | 6-1 |
| 25 | Louisville | 6-2 |
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
To the surprise of very few, Mississippi State reigns supreme as the No. 1 team, a status the Bulldogs hold in both the Associated Press and USA Today polls. The reigning national champion Florida State Seminoles, the only marquee program with an undefeated record, rightly sits No. 2.
Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports weighed in on the grueling process the committee underwent to determine its top 25 teams:
Now, let's get on to some of the reaction from Tuesday's rankings.
The Big Lead's Jason McIntyre was right in line with the selection committee's top four:
Critics may say that SEC bias played a factor, in light of this observation from ESPN Stats & Info:
"Top 4 teams in the College Football Playoff Rankings 1. Mississippi State 2. Florida State 3. Auburn 4. Ole Miss 3 of 4 are from SEC West
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 28, 2014"
ESPN's Max Bretos hinted at that phenomenon:
NOLA.com's Jeff Duncan captured a unique illustration of college football's current powerhouses:
Former Alabama quarterback and current SEC Network analyst Greg McElroy presented his perspective:
Steve Palazzolo of Pro Football Focus offered his take:
Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee was a bit surprised by Notre Dame's modest ranking of 10th:
Fox Sports' Joel Klatt felt the Fighting Irish and Alabama were in their proper slots:
With the amount of SEC flavor that occupied the top of the rankings, the Pac-12 Conference noticed its representatives were held in high esteem:
Before the unveiling, Alabama head coach Nick Saban didn't feel the unveiling bore much significance, via The Tuscaloosa News' Aaron Suttles:
And Saban may have a point in that there is so much more football to be played before anything definitive is decided in terms of the playoff picture.
That holds true for the Crimson Tide, as SportsNation suggested:
Alabama might be disappointed to be in sixth in light of its third-place standing in the two other major polls, whether Saban and his team acknowledges it or not.
Mississippi State still has to face the likes of both Alabama and Ole Miss on the road in two of its final three games, so the Bulldogs are far from a lock to remain at the top. A foundation of confidence has been groomed with wins over LSU and Auburn already, though.
The SEC appears to be both top-heavy and deep as the nation's best football conference yet again. It wouldn't be a surprise to see the national champion emerge from that formidable group.
However, the fact that all these big-time programs beat each other up amid heated competition could lead to a different school seizing ultimate glory. The following quote from ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit is fitting:
Non-SEC squads still in the mix, other than the obvious Seminoles, are Oregon and Notre Dame. They have playmaking, dual-threat QBs in Marcus Mariota and Everett Golson respectively to give them a puncher's chance at the playoffs.
So many one-loss teams are jockeying for position, though, so it's nearly impossible to determine what will happen from here. Whether the College Football Playoff is considered an improvement over the BCS is also yet to be seen.
With the inaugural release of these rankings, at least the road to crowning a champion is becoming clearer.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
