The first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2023 season were revealed on Tuesday night, and in Halloween spirit, some of the rankings are absolutely frightening.
The top six teams in the initial rankings are as follows: No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes, No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs, No. 3 Michigan Wolverines, No. 4 Florida State Seminoles, No. 5 Washington Huskies, and No. 6 Oregon Ducks.
The initial College Football Playoff rankings Top 6, followed by Kirk Herbstreit's reaction. 🏈📺🏆#CFP pic.twitter.com/tzGBZIlkeN
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 31, 2023
While the order of the teams may be a bit questionable and head-scratching, it feels like those are certainly the six best teams in the nation at this point in the season, as the top five are all undefeated, and Oregon’s only loss was to No. 5 Washington.
The rest of the rankings featured some fun, such as the Missouri Tigers checking in at No. 12, the highest CFP ranking in school history.
In the season’s first @CFBPlayoff rankings @MizzouFootball checks in at No. 12, highest CFP ranking in team history.
— Dave Matter (@Dave_Matter) October 31, 2023
The complete rankings can be seen below.
Top 25 @CFBPlayoff rankings
1-Ohio St
2-Georgia
3-Michigan
4-Florida St
5-Washington
6-Oregon
7-Texas
8-Bama
9-OU
10-Ole Miss
11-Penn St
12-Mizzou
13-Louisville
14-LSU
15-NDame
16-Oregon St
17-Tennessee
18-Utah
19-UCLA
20-USC
21-Kansas
22-Okla St
23-Kansas St
24-Tulane
25-Air…— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) October 31, 2023
Naturally, the rankings led to plenty of discussion on social media.
RedditCFB took issue with the 8-0 Air Force Falcons being ranked below the 6-2 Oklahoma State Cowboys, a team that lost by four scores to South Alabama earlier this season.
Sorry lol, it was 6-2 Oklahoma State with a 33-7 loss to South Alabama. https://t.co/SVNyv0plrf
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) October 31, 2023
An Ohio State fan was shocked to see the Buckeyes at the top spot, saying, “Gang, I’m as diehard a Buckeye as they come, but what in the name of Woody Hayes’ ghost are they doing at #1??”
Gang, I'm as diehard a Buckeye as they come, but what in the name of Woody Hayes' ghost are they doing at #1?? https://t.co/nr731Y4aAh
— Daniel ''Master of the Elements'' Kotnik (@DKalltheway) October 31, 2023
Georgia not holding the top spot surprised even Tennessee Volunteers fans, with one saying “Hate them more than anyone but Georgia should 100% be #1”
Hate them more than anyone but Georgia should 100% be #1 https://t.co/x0N2y392aN
— Austin B (@Austin_Vols) October 31, 2023
Michigan being No. 3 was a bit of a surprise, but one fan reminded everyone that Michigan controls its own destiny, with games against Penn State and Ohio State still looming.
https://twitter.com/cjmangum_/status/1719493705554354289
