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As we wait for tonight’s much anticipated unveiling of the first college football playoff rankings of the season, I want to remind you of last season’s initial rankings. You know, the rankings that had Ohio State 16th. The rankings that had three of the top four spots dedicated to SEC teams, and had our Baylor Bears ranked 13th.
These rankings mean everything and nothing at the same time at this point of the year. Sure, you want to be as close to the top as possible, but Mississippi State held the top spot last year and ended up sixth when the final rankings came out. The eventual champs still had J.T. Barrett playing quarterback, and were slated near the bottom of the rankings. Notre Dame held the number 10 spot initially, and did not even make the top 25 at the end of the season. In fact, six teams that held a ranking when the first poll came out did not have a spot in the final poll.
The biggest drop in initial to final rankings last year was from Auburn who started at 3, and then finished at 19 just ahead of Boise State and Louisville. There are so many great games left in the season that drops like this are possible. The number 12 team at the release of the final rankings, Georgia Tech, was not even ranked when the initial rankings came out.
The initial and final rankings from 2014 are below:
| First Rank | Team | Conference | Final Rank | Team | Conference | Difference | Ranked in in first, not in Final |
| 1 | Mississippi State | SEC | 1 | Alabama | SEC | 4 | Notre Dame (10) |
| 2 | Florida State | ACC | 2 | Oregon | Pac 12 | 3 | Nebraska (15) |
| 3 | Auburn | SEC | 3 | Florida State | ACC | -1 | Oklahoma (18) |
| 4 | Ole Miss | SEC | 4 | Ohio State | Big 10 | 12 | West Virginia (20) |
| 5 | Oregon | Pac 12 | 5 | Baylor | Big 12 | 8 | East Carolina (23) |
| 6 | Alabama | SEC | 6 | TCU | Big 12 | 1 | Duke (24) |
| 7 | TCU | Big 12 | 7 | Mississippi State | SEC | -6 | |
| 8 | Michigan State | Big 10 | 8 | Michigan State | Big 10 | 0 | |
| 9 | Kansas State | Big 12 | 9 | Ole Miss | SEC | -5 | |
| 10 | Notre Dame | IND | 10 | Arizona | Pac 12 | 2 | |
| 11 | Georgia | SEC | 11 | Kansas State | Big 12 | -2 | |
| 12 | Arizona | Pac 12 | 12 | Georgia Tech | ACC | NR | |
| 13 | Baylor | Big 12 | 13 | Georgia | SEC | -2 | |
| 14 | Arizona State | Pac 12 | 14 | UCLA | Pac 12 | 8 | |
| 15 | Nebraska | Big 10 | 15 | Arizona State | Pac 12 | -1 | |
| 16 | Ohio State | Big 10 | 16 | Missouri | SEC | NR | |
| 17 | Utah | Pac 12 | 17 | Clemson | ACC | 4 | |
| 18 | Oklahoma | Big 12 | 18 | Wisconsin | Big 10 | NR | |
| 19 | LSU | SEC | 19 | Auburn | SEC | -16 | |
| 20 | West Virginia | Big 12 | 20 | Boise State | Mountain West | NR | |
| 21 | Clemson | ACC | 21 | Louisville | American | 4 | |
| 22 | UCLA | Pac 12 | 22 | Utah | Pac 12 | -5 | |
| 23 | East Carolina | American | 23 | LSU | SEC | -4 | |
| 24 | Duke | ACC | 24 | USC | Pac 12 | NR | |
| 25 | Louisville | ACC | 25 | Minnesota | Big 10 | NR |
A freshman quarterback led Ohio State to a championship, so I don’t see why Baylor can’t do the same with Stidham. We’ll see how the committee views us in a few hours. Personally, I don’t think the committee does anything. They just let the manatees from South Park pick the 25 teams necessary, and then they go on air to make a case for what they picked. Who knows? Just keep in mind that in no way are these rankings final.
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