After largely coasting through their conference schedule thus far, and also beating a relevant out of conference opponent in Notre Dame, the Clemson Tigers have gained the respect of the College Football Playoff Committee, as they sit atop the first playoff rankings of the year.
Clemson (8-0, 5-0 ACC) is one of only two ACC teams present in the first playoff poll of the 2015 season. They will face off against the only other conference representative, the #16 Florida State Seminoles (7-1, 5-1 ACC), on Saturday afternoon in Death Valley. Surprisingly, the North Carolina Tar Heels (7-1, 4-0 ACC), were not able to earn a spot in the opening week of the rankings, which may be chalked up to a poor strength of schedule with a bad loss to South Carolina in the opener to boot.
For college football fans all over the country tonight, there is buzz about respective teams in the rankings and if they rightfully deserve the spot in the poll that they have been given. One notable controversy is whether or not a one-loss Alabama team deserves to be the #4 in the country over either one of the undefeated teams in the Big 12, who once again seem to be penalized for poor strength of schedules and a lack of a conference championship game.
Regardless, this is the least important week of polling of the season for the College Football Playoff committee. The only poll that ultimately will matter is the final ranking to be released on Sunday, December 6th. Until then, we will be left trying to decipher the thinking of the committee on a week-to-week basis.
Here is the full ranking of the first College Football Playoff Poll of the season:
College Football Playoff Top 25
1. Clemson
2. LSU
3. Ohio State
4. Alabama
5. Notre Dame
6. Baylor
7. Michigan State
8. TCU
9. Iowa
10. Florida
11. Stanford
12. Utah
13. Memphis
14. Oklahoma State
15. Oklahoma
16. Florida State
17. Michigan
18. Ole Miss
19. Texas A&M
20. Mississippi State
21. Northwestern
22. Temple
23. UCLA
24. Toledo
25. Houston
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