The results are in: No one can make sense of the first set of the 2026 College Football Playoff rankings.
Numerous storylines emerged from the first set of CFP rankings on Tuesday, Nov. 3: Boise State
is the clear front runner, for now, among the Group of Six. Ohio State, No. 12 in the initial top 25, must win out to be a playoff team. The same is true for No. 11 Notre Dame, whose season could be on the line with a trip from No. 1 Miami looming in Week 10.The biggest storyline, however, is the placement of Alabama, a 6-2 team with losses in two of its past three games. Kalen DeBoer's 6-2 squad was ranked No. 5, ahead of several undefeated and one-loss teams, to say nothing of a 6-2, 13th-ranked Tennessee team that beat it 26-10 two weeks ago.
USA TODAY Sports provided live reaction from Tuesday night's College Football Playoff rankings reveal. Watch Blake Toppmeyer and John Brice for their instant analysis on the CFP's first top 25
When confronted with those rankings, ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum couldn't make heads or tails of them:
"It is about as discombobulated a ranking as I’ve ever seen," Finebaum said on "Get Up!" on Nov. 4. "I would use words like, 'The committee was drunk,' but that would be inappropriate for such an august group of people. But it really doesn't make any sense. ... Trying to make sense of this would literally drive me crazy, because there isn't really a lot of sense.
"Alabama has no business being where they are. That is truly absurd to have Alabama that far ahead of Tennessee, a team that just disemboweled them in Neyland Stadium."
Jordan Rodgers on Indiana CFP ranking: 'That is ridiculous'
Finebaum wasn't the only person at ESPN confused at the rankings. On the Nov. 4 episode of "First Take," the analyst group, which included Chris Russo, Stephen A. Smith and Jordan Rodgers, had plenty to say on the rankings.
Russo in particular was flabbergasted by Indiana's placement at No. 4, eight spots ahead of a Buckeyes team that beat it in Bloomington. He also railed against Indiana's close calls against Nebraska, Michigan and Minnesota, noting the Hoosiers were "lucky" to make it to overtime with kicker Paddy McAteer's 60-yard field goal.
"How are they the fourth-best team in the country?" Russo said, with Rodgers interjecting, "They're not."
"And they've played nobody. They did nothing in the early part of the season. That is ridiculous. I was shocked that they had them fourth."
It is worth noting, of course, that none of the top 25 rankings matter until Selection Sunday on Dec. 6; everything up till then is merely a barometer of where things stand at that particular moment.
However, if it was the selection committee's intention to drum up, let's call them creative discussions, then Mike Yuracheck and Co. were wildly successful.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Paul Finebaum shreds CFP rankings over Alabama: ‘It really doesn’t make any sense’
