There’s still plenty of football left, but it’s time to overreact to the first edition of the College Football Playoff Rankings of the 12-team playoff era.

The college football world awaits the first release of the rankings, eager to see how the new 12-team playoffs will take shape. Especially since the top four spots won’t go to the top four ranked teams, and just because a team is ranked in the top 12 doesn’t mean they’ll get a playoff spot.

Yes, there are still plenty of games left that can alter the playoff race — and there’s no precedent for how these new playoffs alter things — but the first set of seedings defines the path the teams should take in order to secure one of the 12 coveted places. So who was snubbed and faces an uphill and undeserved battle heading into the final stretch of the season?

The surprise story of the season, Indiana continues to fall short with its #8 ranking. The committee proved last season that the eye test was important when it chose Alabama over Florida State. So why hasn’t the same been applied to the Hoosiers?

Indiana has dominated every team it has faced this season with double-digit wins in every game. He was down 10-0 for the first time against Michigan State and responded with 47 unanswered points. So far, no team has been able to stop Curt Cignetti’s squad, but it appears the schedule is holding the Hoosiers back from advancing. Their best win is against Washington, with no wins against currently ranked teams. However, Texas and Penn State also do not have wins over currently ranked teams.

So far, it appears the name hurts the Hoosiers more than the play on the field. Indiana’s game against Ohio State holds particular importance, with the Hoosiers needing to play a good game to possibly avoid being left out.

As long as it wins the Big 12, BYU’s ranking won’t matter as it gets a first-round bye. But it is clear that there are few mistakes if he loses a match.

At No. 9, the Cougars are behind teams like Texas and Penn State, who at this point don’t have impressive wins. Meanwhile, BYU picked up wins over No. 13 Southern Methodist and No. 19 Kansas State, the latter of which was a blowout. Of course, the Longhorns and the Nittany Lions have lost to good teams, but they both have one loss and BYU doesn’t have one – and the Cougars have more ranked wins than Miami.

The low ranking implies that if BYU loses, it could fall out of the top 12 and will have to count on winning the conference title if that happens.

It’s not a secret Broncos are the best Group of Five team in the country and are deservedly in the projected playoff field, but there could be an argument for them being higher.

Boise State’s only loss was to Oregon on the roadand it was a match he could have won in the end. As the Ducks continue to emerge as the best team in the country, Boise State’s stock continues to rise. Outside of this game, the Broncos were also dominant with Ashton Jeanty, Heisman candidate lead the team. The closest victory came at UNLV, another Group of Five team with a chance to squeeze into the field. Boise State’s lone loss means a lot more than Notre Dame’s loss, which is two spots ahead of the Broncos.

Still, there aren’t many impressive wins for the Broncos. The good thing right now is that if Boise State loses again, they’ll likely be the top-ranked team in the Group of Five, but this Oregon loss shouldn’t penalize them as much as the committee might. do it.

SMU has excelled in its first year in the ACC so far. Despite an impressive start, the Mustangs are just outside expected playoff territory.

SMU has a resume comparable to Notre Dame’s. The Mustangs have two ranked wins in Pittsburgh and Louisville, which Notre Dame also beat. However, SMU’s only loss was close to BYU’s. THE Fight the Irish lost to a Northern Illinois team that is near the bottom of the MAC. There’s no reason why Notre Dame should be above SMU, and now the Mustangs are on the outside looking in and trying to get into one of the spots.

Army has yet to trail in a game this season, but it trails almost the entire top 25 in the rankings.

THE Black Knights achieved convincing victories in every match. However, placing them in last place in the rankings seems beyond their unbeaten record. Sure, there aren’t any impressive wins, but Army is one of five undefeated teams left and they don’t get rewarded for that, with teams that don’t have any big wins ahead of them.

Army still has Notre Dame on the schedule and that should decide whether it has a chance to make the College Football Playoff. But even if he wins, the odds are stacked against the Black Knights closing in on the playoff field.

A team that should have been in the top 25 was the SEC’s surprise in Vanderbilt.

When the season ends, no one will forget when Vanderbilt shocked the college football world when he beat Alabama and it was no fluke. However, the loss to Georgia State seems to prevail over the great victory. THE Commodores have close losses to Missouri and Texas, but the rationale for Missouri being ranked is that they beat Vanderbilt. So shouldn’t the Commodores be ranked?

Vanderbilt doesn’t really have a path to the playoffs, but it’s a good team so far that has proven its worth as a seed at this point.

When will the next College Football Playoff rankings be?

The next series of rankings will be revealed next Tuesday, November 12.

This article was originally published on USA TODAY: College Football Playoff rankings snubbed: Indiana and BYU have arguments