Michigan fifth in initial College Football Playoff rankings
Jim Harbaugh
GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP/WJBK) - Alabama, Clemson, LSU and Notre Dame are the top four teams in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season.
The 13-member selection committee released the first of its five weekly top 25s before the four-team field is set for the College Football Playoff semifinals on Dec. 2.
Michigan is fifth, followed by Georgia and Oklahoma.
The top four teams were no surprise. The same four teams are Nos. 1-4 in the latest Associated Press college football poll, just with Notre Dame third and LSU fourth.
Next week's rankings figure to look a lot different. Four games matching top-20 teams will be played Saturday, including Penn State at Michigan and Alabama at LSU.
UCF was the highest ranked team from outside the Power Five conferences at 12th.
The playoff semifinals match the No. 1 seed vs. the No. 4 seed, and No. 2 will face No. 3. The semifinals will be hosted at the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl on Dec. 29. The championship game will be played on Jan. 7, 2019 at Santa Clara, Calif.