ATHENS — The first College Football Playoff rankings have dropped, adding further debate going into Saturday’s game between No. Georgia Georgia and No. 1 Tennessee.
The two unbeaten SEC teams sit atop the rankings, followed by Ohio State at No. 2, Clemson at No. 4 and Michigan and Alabama as the first two teams out. Unbeaten TCU is at No. 7.
Alabama is No. 6, which Tennessee beat 52-49 on Oct. 15. Oregon is No. 8, who the Bulldogs beat 49-3 in the opening week of the season. Ohio State and Michigan will also play each later this season, with the two teams meeting in Columbus, Ohio., on Nov. 26.
While the first College Football Playoff rankings bring excitement and intrigue, not always do they translate to end-of-season success. The first-ever College Football Playoff rankings saw Mississippi State as the No. 1 ranked team, only for the Bulldogs to miss the College Football Playoff entirely.
Last season, the first top four was Georgia, Alabama, Michigan State and Oregon. Georgia and Alabama ended up playing for the national championship, while Oregon and Michigan State missed the College Football Playoff altogether.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart could not care less about the rankings and you can tell being ranked so high has become old hat as Smart was not even asked about the rankings debuting. The Bulldogs have been ranked in the top four at some point in every season dating back to 2017.
The Bulldogs wrapped up their second practice of the week on Tuesday, preparing for Tennessee’s fast pace offense. Georgia beat Tennessee 41-17 a year ago, but that was a very different team.
“It’s very unique and they have a plan of attack based on how you’re going to play them. It’s not like they haven’t seen -- you’re not going to trick them,” Smart said. “You’re not going to show them something they haven’t seen. You got to do what you do better than they do. And they’re really good at what they do.”
Georgia and Tennessee get things started at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. You can see the full College Football Playoff rankings for Week 10 below.
College Football Playoff rankings for Week 10
- Tennessee
- Ohio State
- Georgia
- Clemson
- Michigan
- Alabama
- TCU
- Oregon
- USC
- LSU
- Ole Miss
- UCLA
- Kansas State
- Utah
- Penn State
- Illinois
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma State
- Tulane
- Syracuse
- Wake Forest
- NC State
- Oregon State
- Texas
- UCF
More Georgia football stories from around DawgNation
- Roquan Smith finds new home, Nick Chubb shines in Week 8 of NFL action
- Initial College Football Playoff rankings should only add intrigue to Georgia football-Tennessee game
- How Georgia football will go about replacing all that Nolan Smith brought to the table
- Georgia football pass rusher Nolan Smith feared to have suffered season-ending injury
- Kirby Smart confident in Georgia football secondary: ‘I’m looking forward to the opportunity’
- Winter is here for the Georgia defense as it battles Tennessee tempo: ‘They go really fast’
- Georgia football safety Chris Smith racks up multiple midseason All-American honors
- Georgia football podcast: Kirby Smart issues huge challenge to UGA fans
- Kirby Smart challenges Georgia fans to set new standard against Tennessee: ‘We’ll need them again’
