On Tuesday Night, the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll are thrown to the side as the College Football Playoff committee unveils its initial set of rankings. These rankings determine everything the rest of the way, as we'll know where each team stands in the race for the Playoff. The Playoff didn't expand, which means the field of 12 will start to take shape over these final weeks.
While the committee has some easy decisions to make in their initial set of rankings, they also have a few decisions that everyone will have their eyes on. As the committee hasn't ranked these teams this season, they're not locked into several decisions they already made, which means they send a statement when debating 3 topics.
The College Football Playoff committee has 3 important arguments to answer
How does the Playoff committee handle Notre Dame and Miami?
The biggest predicament the College Football Playoff committee has is figuring out how to rank Notre Dame and Miami. Both teams have the same record at 6-2, but the Hurricanes have lost two of their last 3 games while Notre Dame is on a 6 game winning streak. The issue for the committee is that while Notre Dame is playing better as of late, the Hurricanes won the season opener over Notre Dame in Miami.
The AP has already ranked Notre Dame 10th and Miami 18th, but the committee ranking Notre Dame higher would almost be a statement that the games on the field don't matter.
The great debate for the Top Seed
When the Top 3 teams are revealed, it'll be some combination of Ohio State, Texas A&M, and Indiana. The committee, however, is going to need to find a way to differentiate these teams, which almost feels impossible at this point. All 3 have great resumes and haven't lost, which makes this debate impossible.
Ohio State is 8-0 with a big win over Texas in the season opener, but the rest of their resume could use some work. Indiana may have the best win of the season, and they've dominated everyone, getting off to a 9-0 start. Texas A&M is unbeaten in the SEC with a great win over Notre Dame, which gives all 3 a resume building win.
Handling the wide open ACC
This weekend, the ACC likely made itself a 1 bid league as Georgia Tech and Miami were stunned. The committee is going to have to pick between 3 teams that have fairly similar resumes in Georgia Tech, Virginia, and Louisville, as only one of them will make it inside the initial bracket reveal. Given the fact that Virginia beat Louisville, the debate will be between the Cavaliers and Georgia Tech, and while the Yellow Jackets are likely the better team, they'll likely side with the unbeaten ACC record for Virginia.