The first set of College Football Playoff rankings will debut at 8 p.m. on Tuesday night (TV: ESPN), and there will be plenty of data to be deciphered.
Recency bias is a thing when it comes to evaluating teams. After all, players and programs evolve or devolve with development and/or attrition as the season progresses.
This weekend’s games will carry more weight than the others before them, as they are a reflection of how the teams are playing right now and how far they have advanced — or regressed.
The 13-member College Football Playoff committee will be taking the whole season into account when putting out its first set of rankings, without bias to any of the preseason polls or expectations.
The teams’ won-loss record, head-to-head meetings, strength of schedule, game control metrics and offensive and defensive rankings will all be taken into consideration.
This time of season, on the verge of the first CFP rankings,adds more weight to Georgia’s already-important rivalry game against Florida, as the No. 5-ranked Bulldogs will be facing a Gators’ program that’s in transition with an interim head coach.
For Georgia, it’s a chance to maintain dominance in a rivalry game it has won four straight times and seven out of the last right while staying on track to make the 12-team College Football Playoff and perhaps reach the SEC championship game for what would be the eighth time in the last night years.
If the Bulldogs lose to the unranked Gators, however, it could put the program on the verge of not making the College Football Playoff field.
Three, 3-loss SEC teams missed making the 12-team CFP field last season, and it’s debatable if a three-loss SEC team would make the field this season.
Much of that will be circumstantial and depend on how seasons of other teams unfold elsewhere.
For example, Notre Dame, with two losses, could be selected ahead of a three-loss SEC team.
There’s also a chance the Big Ten and ACC could each produce three teams with one-loss or less that would almost surely make the CFP field ahead of three-loss SEC teams.
Each of the four Power Four conference champions -- from the Big 12, Big Ten, SEC and ACC - are assured a place in the 12-team field, along with the top-ranked Group of Five champion.
Memphis, ranked No. 25, is currently the highest-ranked Group of Five tam an will be in action at 7 p.m. on Friday against fellow American Athletic Conference member Rice (ESPN2).
There are several other key games to keep an eye on leading up to the first set of rankings, as fans brace for the Tuesday night release that will establish a key early pecking order and set the College Football Playoff race into motion.
Saturday’s games to watch
• Penn State (3-4, 0-4) plays at No. 1 Ohio State (7-0, 4-0), Noon, FOX
• No. 9 Vanderbilt (7-1, 3-1 SEC) plays at No. 20 Texas (6-2, 3-1), Noon, ABC
• No. 10 Miami (6-1, 2-1 ACC) plays at SMU (5-3, 3-1), Noon, ESPN
• No. 16 Louisville (6-1, 3-1 ACC) plays at Virginia Tech (3-5, 2-2), 3 p.m, CW Network.
• No. 2 Indiana (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) plays at Maryland (4-3, 1-3), 3 p.m., CBS
• No. 5 Georgia (6-1, 4-1 SEC) plays vs. Florida (3-4, 2-2), 3:30 p.m., ABC
• No. 12 Notre Dame (5-2) plays at Boston College (1-7), 3:30 p.m., ESPN
No. 13 Texas Tech (7-1, 4-1 Big 12) plays at Kansas State (4-4, 3-2), 3:30 p.m., FOX
No. 15 Virginia (7-1, 4-0 ACC) plays at Cal (5-3, 2-2), 3:45 p.m., ESPN2
South Carolina (3-5, 1-5 SEC) plays at No. 7 Ole Miss (7-1, 4-1), 7 p.m., ESPN
No. 8 Georgia Tech (8-0, 5-0 ACC) plays at N.C. Sate (4-4, 1-3), 7:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 18 Oklahoma (6-2, 2-2 SEC) plays at No. 14 Tennessee (6-2, 3-2), 7:30 p.m., ABC
No. 17 Cincinnati (7-1, 5-0 Big 12) plays at No. 24 Utah (6-2, 3-2), 10:15 p.m., ESPN
