College Football Playoff: 3 Biggest Surprises from Week 15 rankings

1. Iowa State Cyclones jumps Georgia and Cincinnati

The first move in the new College Football Playoff rankings comes at No. 7 where the Iowa State Cyclones jumped up two spots ahead of the #8 Cincinnati Bearcats and the No. 9 Georgia Bulldogs. This was a surprising move by the playoff committee as the Cyclones have two losses despite some good wins.

The Bulldogs have two quality losses by the hands of the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide and the sixth-ranked Florida Gators. The Bearcats currently have an undefeated record of 8-0 as a member of the American Athletic Conference.

Iowa State has a 3-1 record versus top 25 opponents, but they have a tough 31-14 loss to the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns, who are currently ranked 19th in the nation.

There are two major indications on why the Cyclones are ranked above the Bearcats and the Bulldogs. The first is that Iowa State has a strength of schedule that is ranked 16th in the nation. Cincinnati’s strength of schedule ranks 63rd in the nation while Georgia’s strength of schedule ranks 57th in the nation.

Another indication why the Cyclones are ranked higher is they are coming off a 42-6 dominating win over the West Virginia Mountaineers. Both the Bearcats and the Bulldogs are coming off the weekend without having their matchups played due to the impact of COVID-19.

The College Football Playoff Committee is more forgiving than previous years on certain attributes due to this COVID-19 season. As the Cyclones have shown, two major indicates that the Playoff Committee cares for the most are the strength of schedule and recent games.