TCU ranked No. 7 in first College Football Playoff rankings

The TCU Horned Frogs are ranked No. 7 in the first College Football Playoffs ranking of the season.

The 13-member committee released the initial CFP 25 rankings on ESPN on Tuesday night. This will be a weekly occurrence every Tuesday until Dec. 4 when the committee announces the four national semifinalists.

TCU is also No. 7 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 and the USA Today AFCA coaches poll. The Horned Frogs sit at 8-0 and are sitting at the top of the Big 12 with a 5-0 record after beating West Virginia 41-31 on Saturday. They host Texas Tech at Amon G. Carter Stadium on Saturday at 11 a.m.

The biggest talking point surrounding the Horned Frogs’ slot was that they are behind Alabama, who was beaten by Tennessee. The Volunteers are ranked No. 1 in the first edition of the CFP Top 25.

“It says a lot man. The committee at this point is not necessarily that impressed. (TCU) hasn’t blown everybody out like the some of the other teams ahead of them,” Kirk Herbstreit said during the broadcast.

With Alabama at No. 6, Michigan was No. 5, Clemson was No. 4, Georgia was No. 3 and Ohio State was No. 2. Joey Galloway said TCU could have a case to upset later down the road.

“Later on in the rankings this would be one that upset me. This one would bother me. This is the very first one, a lot of things are going to happen from now until then. But for TCU to be ranked behind Alabama with their resume, it’s not like they didn’t play anybody, they beat four ranked teams, four Top 25 teams in a row and then on the road at West Virginia,” Galloway said. “I’m going to settle down and let this go by.”

North Carolina State athletic director and CFP selection chair Boo Corrigan explained why Alabama was ranked ahead of TCU.

“We’re looking for a balanced team, offense and defense. They have gotten behind in a few games, they’ve been able to come back and win those games but when you look at Alabama in the wins against Mississippi State, at Arkansas, at Texas and a three point loss at Tennessee as a committee we decided to go with Alabama,” Corrigan said.

David Pollack also chimed in with his thoughts on how the Horned Frogs should feel about their ranking.

“If I look at TCU, they’ve been super dominant offensively. They’ve been a little bit leaky defensively. But they’ve done everything they’ve needed to do up until this point to win. They gotta go at Baylor, at Texas is that enough to leapfrop a team like Clemson that’s going to be in front of them?” Pollack said. “That’s the thing you start to look at it if you’re TCU. Can I get ahead of Clemson?”

TCU has one ranked opponent left on its schedule with Texas slotted at No. 24. Clemson’s final four games currently don’t include a ranked team, but potential conference championship game opponent North Carolina was ranked No. 17.

Kansas State, currently second place in the Big 12, was ranked No. 13 and Oklahoma State was ranked No. 18.

Here’s the full College Football Playoff Top 25

1. Tennessee, 2. Ohio State, 3. Georgia, 4. Clemson, 5. Michigan

6. Alabama, 7. TCU, 8. Oregon, 9. USC, 10. LSU

11. Ole Miss, 12. UCLA, 13. Kansas State, 14. Utah, 15. Penn State

16. Illinois, 17. North Carolina, 18. Oklahoma State, 19. Tulane, 20. Syracuse

21. Wake Forest, 22. NC State, 23. Oregon State, 24. Texas, 25. UCF