Clemson, LSU, Ohio State, Alabama top 1st playoff rankings, Iowa in 9th

Clemson, LSU, Ohio State, Alabama top 1st playoff rankings, Iowa in 9th

NEW YORK (AP) — Clemson, LSU, Ohio State and Alabama are the top four teams in the first College Football Playoff selection committee rankings of the season.

Notre Dame was fifth and Baylor was sixth on Tuesday night.

Clemson, LSU and Ohio State are among 11 unbeaten teams in FBS, nearly quadruple the number there was last season when the committee started ranking teams. Alabama and Notre Dame each have one loss.

Memphis was the highest ranked team from a Group of Five conference at No. 13.

Last year the top four teams in the first playoff rankings were Mississippi State, Florida State, Auburn and Mississippi. Only the Seminoles reached the playoff. Ohio State, the eventual national champion, was 16th in the first rankings.

Takeaways from the first playoff rankings.

WAITING ON THE BIG 12

The Big 12 has four teams (Baylor, No. 8 TCU, No. 14 Oklahoma State and No. 15 Oklahoma) in the top 15 and they all play each other in November.

Long said it was difficult to judge the strength of those teams because their big games are still to come. The good news for the Power Five conference that got left out of last season's final four is all of those teams are in good shape to get in the playoff if they win out.

The bad news is one loss by the Big 12 champion might be too much to get into the playoff.

BTCU's best non conference opponent was Minnesota, which is struggling.

If you're looking for this season's Ohio State, which went from 16th in the first poll to making the playoff, Oklahoma is a good pick.

If the Sooners can sweep TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma State down the stretch, they would have a strong late statement.

Remember the committee showed last year it does not lock teams into positions. TCU was third going into the last weekend of the season and finished sixth, despite blowing out Iowa State.

PAC-12 WORRIES?

The Pac-12 is going to need some help getting a team in the playoff.

No. 11 Stanford (7-1) and No. 12 Utah (7-1) were the committee's highest ranked Pac-12 teams. Both are well positioned to surge, but they might have too much traffic in front of them to get into the top four.

Best-case scenario for the Pac-12: A Stanford-Utah conference title game produces a 12-1 champion and either the Big 12 contenders knock each other off and create a one-loss champion or the SEC champion ends up with two losses.

IOWA ON THE MOVE

In the AP Top 25 Poll, Iowa sits nicely in the 10th place position. But in the first CFP rankings, Iowa hops Standford and moves into 9th.

Strength of schedule could play a factor in moving Iowa into that top four, but with a BIG Ten title and a 12-0 record, it could be hard to keep the Hawkeyes out of the playoff.