The College Football Playoff selection committee unveiled the first rankings Tuesday night and it might be worth remembering to take them all with a big grain of salt.
A year ago, when the first rankings were released, Ohio State was No. 1, Georgia was No. 2 and Florida State was No. 4. None of those teams made the final four-team field.
With an expanded 12-team playoff this season, the first rankings should tell us more about which teams are on the bubble than which teams are safely in.
That doesn’t mean Tuesday’s rankings don’t have any impact. Already we’re seeing the way the national title odds are changing based on the committee’s first poll.
Following Week 10, Ohio State (+350) was the favorite at BetMGM to win the College Football Playoff followed by Georgia (+400), Oregon (+450) and Texas (+550). Every other contender had odds longer than 10-1.
Here’s an updated look at the odds after the rankings:
It’s worth noting that as of Monday, Ohio State accounted for 18.5 percent of all money wagered on the national title at BetMGM (14.2 percent of all bets), followed by Georgia with 16.9 percent of the handle and 10.9 percent of the bets.
Ohio State, Tennessee and Colorado make up the book’s biggest liabilities.
This story will be updated
