The 13-member panel ranked undefeated Michigan at No. 5, and one-loss Alabama was at No. 6 ahead of undefeated No. 7 TCU. Alabama had been ranked in the top three in the initial rankings in each of the last six years. Alabama has never been ranked lower than No. 6 in the committee’s first ranking, earning the same spot in 2014. Tennessee, which averages 49 points per game and leads the FBS in total offense, became the seventh different program to earn the No. 1 seed at any point in the playoff season. The Vols entered Tuesday’s initial ranking ranked No. 1 in ESPN’s Strength of Record metric with the nation’s best win over No. 6 Alabama. 2 Related “When you look at the (first) three teams, the two wins against Alabama and LSU really sealed the day for Tennessee,” CFP chairman Boo Corrigan, North Carolina State’s athletic director, said on his telecast ESPN. When asked about the difference between Ohio State and Georgia for the No. 2 slot, Corrigan said one of the main factors the committee looked at was “the explosive nature of their Ohio State offense.” Seven of the previous eight teams ranked No. 1 in the committee’s first ranking reached the CFP. The only exception was Mississippi State in 2014, the CFP’s first season. At No. 8, one-loss Oregon was the Pac-12’s highest-ranked team. Tennessee and Georgia will meet on Saturday in a game that will have a drastic impact on the committee’s second ranking, and Ohio State and Michigan will finally meet in the regular season rivalry game. “We really don’t look at conferences, we look at individual teams,” Corrigan said. “At the end of the day, we’re trying to pick the best teams and put them in the right way.”
