The initial college football rankings were revealed on Tuesday night, and there weren't a ton of surprises.
At least when it comes to the top teams, the rankings largely mimicked the pre-existing polls. The top five is completely identical, with Ohio State leading the way, followed by Indiana, Texas A&M, Alabama and Georgia. However, there are some interesting decisions the committee made.
For one, it's much less high on Oregon, which it ranked No. 9 behind one-loss teams Ole Miss and Texas Tech. Speaking of the Red Raiders, they're currently the second-highest-ranked team in the Big 12 behind BYU, but they'll have the chance to change that when they face the Cougars in Lubbock on Saturday.
Iowa was a bit of a surprising inclusion at No. 20, and that's great news for the Hawkeyes' at-large hopes with an opportunity to make a statement against Oregon coming up this weekend. Miami also fell to No. 18, meaning it will be an uphill battle for the Hurricanes to make the CFP unless they can find a way to win the ACC.
Interestingly, no Group of Five teams were featured in the rankings. Still, the highest-ranked G5 champion would currently project to be Memphis, so the Tigers would slot into the No. 12 seed if the season ended today.
Here's a full look at the initial CFP top 25, as well as the current projected bracket.
Initial CFP rankings
- Ohio State (8-0)
- Indiana (9-0)
- Texas A&M (8-0)
- Alabama (7-1)
- Georgia (7-1)
- Ole Miss (8-1)
- BYU (8-0)
- Texas Tech (8-1)
- Oregon (7-1)
- Notre Dame (6-2)
- Texas (7-2)
- Oklahoma (7-2)
- Utah (7-2)
- Virginia (8-1)
- Louisville (7-1)
- Vanderbilt (7-2)
- Georgia Tech (8-1)
- Miami (6-2)
- USC (6-2)
- Iowa (6-2)
- Michigan (7-2)
- Missouri (6-2)
- Washington (6-2)
- Pittsburgh (7-2)
- Tennessee (6-3)
CFP first round matchups
No. 12 Memphis at No. 5 Georgia
No. 11 Virginia at No. 6 Ole Miss
No. 10 Notre Dame at No. 7 BYU
No. 9 Oregon at No. 8 Texas Tech
CFP quarterfinals
No. 1 Ohio State vs. Texas Tech/Oregon
No. 2 Indiana vs. BYU/Notre Dame
No. 3 Texas A&M vs. Ole Miss/Virginia
No. 4 Alabama vs. Georgia/Memphis
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This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M lead the way in initial 2025 CFP rankings
Reporting by Tyler Nettuno, College Sports Wire / College Sports Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

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