When are the College Football Playoff rankings released in 2019?

Bill Bender

When are the College Football Playoff rankings released in 2019? image

October is here, but college football fans will have to wait another month for the first set of College Football Playoff rankings to be released.  

Five sets of rankings will be released beginning Nov. 5 before the final CFP pairings are announced on Sunday, Dec. 8 at noon. The College Football Playoff semifinals will be on Dec. 28 at the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta and PlayStation Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz.

The CFP championship game will be Jan. 13 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.

When are the College Football Playoff rankings released in 2019?

  • CFP rankings release date: Tuesday, Nov. 5 (9 p.m. ET)

The first College Football Playoff rankings will be released at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 5. The rankings will be unveiled on ESPN. The start time might be later because it will follow the first game of the State Farm Champions Classic on ESPN.  

Here is a look at the schedule:  ​

Date Time
Tuesday, Nov. 5 9-9:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 12 7-8 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 19 7-8 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 26 7-8 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 3 7-7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 8 12-4 p.m.

What day of the week do the CFP rankings come out? 

The College Football Playoff rankings will be released on five consecutive Tuesdays from Nov. 5 to Dec. 3, and the final rankings will be in unveiled Dec. 8, the day after conference championship games are played.  

Do the first CFP rankings matter?

A look at the history of the first CFP rankings the last five reveals that 13 of the 20 teams ranked in the top four went on to the College Football Playoff:  

Year Teams
2014 Florida State*, Alabama*, Oklahoma, Oregon*
2015 Clemson*, LSU, Ohio State, Alabama*
2016 Alabama*, Clemson*, Michigan, Texas A&M
2017 Georgia*, Alabama*, Notre Dame, Clemson*
2018 Alabama*, Clemson*, LSU, Notre Dame*

Who is on the College Football Playoff committee?  

Here is a look at the members of the CFP committee in 2019:  

MEMBERS TITLE
Rob Mullens, Chair Oregon athletic director
Gary Barta Iowa athletic director
Frank Beamer Former Virginia Tech coach
Paola Bolvin Arizona State professor
Joe Castiglione Oklahoma athletic director
Ken Hatfield Former Clemson, Rice, Arkansas coach
Chris Howard Robert Morris University president
Ronnie Lott Former USC All-American
Terry Mohajir Arkansas State athletic director
Ray Odierno Former U.S. Army Chief of Staff
R.C. Slocum Former Texas A&M coach
Todd Stansbury Georgia Tech athletic director
Scott Stricklin Florida athletic director

College Football Playoff schedule 2019 

The College Football Playoff semifinals will be played on Dec. 28 at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. on ESPN. The semifinals will be played at the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale Ariz., and the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta. This is the second time those sites have hosted semifinals.  

The College Football Playoff championship game will be played Jan. 13 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. Game time has not been decided.  

Visit the College Football Playoff web site for more.

Bill Bender

Bill Bender Photo

Bill Bender graduated from Ohio University in 2002 and started at The Sporting News as a fantasy football writer in 2007. He has covered the College Football Playoff, NBA Finals and World Series for SN. Bender enjoys story-telling, awesomely-bad 80s movies and coaching youth sports.