2020 College Football Playoff Rankings Pushed Back Due to Season Schedule

College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock announced Thursday the selection committee won't release its first rankings until Nov. 24, a one-week delay from the original plan.

Hancock told ESPN's Heather Dinich the change comes after all 10 FBS conferences decided to play football in the fall after some had postponed play until spring because of the coronavirus pandemic. The final ranking will be released Dec. 20.

"Now that we know all conferences' starting dates, this change will allow the committee to analyze another week of games," Hancock said. "There will be four rankings before Selection Day. The committee members have been studying teams and watching video, and I know they're looking forward to rolling up their sleeves and getting together."

The announcement comes after the CFP management committee rejected a proposal to expand the playoff field to eight teams for the 2020 season because of the logistical issues created by the pandemic, an idea pushed by Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott.

"They decided that doing that now would be such a significant change, and come with so many challenges, especially given the timing with the season already underway, that they concluded that the best outcome would be to make no changes in the format," Hancock told Dinich.

So the field will remain at four teams and the schedule is set, with the semifinals taking place New Year's Day followed by the CFP National Championship Game on Jan. 11, 2021.

The rankings that have been released during the unprecedented season, led by the AP and Coaches polls, have been forced to adjust on the fly. Big Ten and Pac-12 teams were removed for a short time before returning after their confirmation of a fall campaign.

Ohio State out of the Big Ten is the top-ranked team that hasn't played a game so far at No. 6 in both polls. Clemson, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Notre Dame make up the top five in both rankings.

The timeline is tight, though. The Big Ten schedule features no bye weeks, and the conference title game is set for Dec. 19, one day before the CFP selections are made. So it's possible postponed games are ultimately scrapped, and the committee may be forced to debate teams with unbalanced resumes.

In that regard, a one-year increase in the number of playoff teams would have made sense because it's possible there are more than four undefeated teams given the limited number of games.

The outlook should be far more clear by the time the selection committee reveals its first ranking Nov. 24.