It's that time of year again, when entire weekends worth of games — wins, losses, blowouts, upsets, controversies, style points and more — are all condensed into a one-hour segment every Tuesday night in an attempt to order the top 25 teams in college football.
Yep. It's time for the first set of College Football Playoff rankings.
MORE: College Football Playoff Picture for Week 10: Michigan State jumps into No. 4 spot
The CFP selection committee has its work cut out for it this year — outside the No. 1 team in the country, at least. Georgia is clearly the top team in the nation nine weeks into the season, but it gets a little hazy behind the Bulldogs. Who exactly will the top four consist of? Alabama (7-1), Oklahoma (9-0), Cincinnati (8-0), Ohio State (7-1), Michigan State (8-0) and Oregon (7-1) can make a claim to be among the top four teams.
The biggest storyline heading into the first set of rankings isn't who makes up the top four teams, per se (there are still five weeks of football left to play, after all). Rather, it's what the committee elects to do with the Bearcats. It wasted no energy pretending to care about Cincy's undefeated status at this time last year, ranking it seventh in the country behind three teams with one loss. How high up Cincinnati ranks this year could go a long way in determining whether it has a legitimate shot at the Playoff.
Everything else is still in front of the committee. Some arguments members will need to address is whether a one-loss Pac-12 champion Oregon would jump one loss, Big Ten champion Ohio State; whether Oklahoma's resurgence is enough to overcome a weeks-long slow start to the season; and whether two SEC teams make up the current projected Playoff quartet.
With that, here's everything you need to tune in and watch those arguments unfold:
MORE: Watch the CFP rankings release live with fuboTV (7-day free trial)
What time are the College Football Playoff rankings released?
- Date: Tuesday, Nov. 2
- Start time: 7 p.m. ET
The College Football Playoff will unveil its first set of rankings for the 2021 season at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 2.
CFP rankings schedule 2021
The College Football Playoff selection show will air at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Barring the second set of rankings, each ensuing show will air on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. ET. The CFP selection show will take place on Sunday, Dec. 5 — the day following conference championship games — at noon ET.
| Date | Time (ET) |
| Tuesday, Nov. 2 | 7 p.m. |
| Tuesday, Nov. 9 | 9 p.m.* |
| Tuesday, Nov. 16 | 7 p.m. |
| Tuesday, Nov. 23 | 7 p.m. |
| Tuesday, Nov. 30 | 7 p.m. |
| Sunday, Dec. 5 (Selection Sunday) | Noon |
MORE: Latest AP Top 25, Coaches Poll rankings
How to watch CFP selection show
- TV channel: ESPN
- Live stream: ESPN app, fuboTV
The rankings selection show will take place on ESPN, and can be live-streamed on the ESPN app. It can also be streamed via fuboTV, which offers a 7-day free trial.
MORE: College Football Playoff Rankings: Four big questions committee must address
Projected CFP rankings: Who are the top four teams in college football?
1. Georgia (8-0)
2. Oklahoma (9-0)
3. Alabama (7-1)
4. Michigan State (8-0)
Sporting News projects the top four teams in the first set of rankings will be No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Alabama and No. 4 Michigan State. The first two teams out are projected to be No. 5 Cincinnati (8-0) and No. 6 Oregon (7-1).
