College Football Playoff Rankings Are Out

The College Football Playoff rankings are officially out and the defending champion Clemson Tigers are in the #1 spot followed by #2 Oklahoma. In the #3 and #4 spots are Georgia and Alabama.

The Wisconsin Badgers had a chance at earning the #4 spot in the playoffs, but they lost in the Big Ten Championship to the Ohio State Buckeyes 27-21.

Despite the loss, Badgers head coach Paul Chryst was happy with how his team battled.

“Certainly really disappointed,” Chryst said in an article by The Badger Herald. “It’s a quiet, disappointing, hurting locker room. But proud of the way they battled. Credit Ohio State. They made more plays than we did. I thought guys played and guys believed all the way till the last play. You hurt for them, you hurt for the seniors. Got to find a way, it’s going to hurt for a little bit, but we got an opportunity. One more chance with this team. We got to make sure we finish it the right way. Proud of them, certainly.”

The Badgers finished their regular season with a 12-1 record, improving their 10-3 record from last year. The Badger’s season isn’t done yet though, they will play the #11 ranked Miami Hurricanes in the Orange Bowl on Dec 30.

Freshman Keegan Kapocius thinks the Badgers could’ve done a few things differently in the Big Ten Championship game.

“They just needed to stop so many big plays from happening,” Kapocius said. “Hornibrook needed to have a better passing game. They should be able to beat Miami if they can stop big plays and if Hornibrook can play better.”

The team that replaced Wisconsin at the #4 spot is the Alabama Crimson Tide. Alabama lost in last years BCS title game and won it in 2015.

Freshman Maxwell Steele thinks Alabama is going to win despite being ranked fourth.

“I think they will win because they’re Bama; they’re always a contender,” Steele said. I think they will beat Clemson right away. Clemson is a very overhyped team. They lost to Syracuse earlier this year which proves that they’re overhyped.”

Shockingly, there are no undefeated teams in the Playoff. Each team has one loss. Clemson and Oklahoma lost to unranked teams as their only losses.

Sophomore Samuel Muth likes Oklahoma’s chances at the title.

“I think Oklahoma stands out the most,” Muth said. “Baker Mayfield plays with a ton of energy and is a leader.”

The first game of the College Football Playoff will be a rematch of last year’s title game between Alabama and Clemson. Last year Clemson won 35-31 in a great comeback win.

Each team in the playoffs has a lot of strengths. Oklahoma has Heisman contender quarterback on their team in Baker Mayfield. Georgia has a fantastic running back in Nick Chubb and won the SEC title. Clemson and Alabama both have outstanding quarterbacks and defenses as well.