The Florida Gators were ranked sixth in the initial College Football Playoff rankings, trailing a pair of SEC teams, No. 1 Alabama and No. 5 Texas A&M.
Alabama topped the rankings’ initial release, followed by Notre Dame, Clemson and Ohio State in the top four. Four teams will make the playoffs and play for the national championship.
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Florida’s path to a championship is rather simple. With three games remaining in the regular season, wins over Kentucky, Tennessee and LSU would send the Gators to the conference title game with a 9-1 record. They would likely face Alabama in the championship game. A win over the Crimson Tide would almost certainly be enough to earn the Gators a top-four spot and a trip to the playoffs.
Other notable teams in the top 15 include undefeated Cincinnati at No. 7. The Bearcats are 8-0 on the year after a 36-33 win over UCF on Saturday. Cincinnati has games against Temple and undefeated Tulsa still on the schedule.
Northwestern is a surprise team at No. 8, ahead of Georgia and Miami. The next five include Oklahoma, Indiana, Iowa State, and a pair of unbeaten teams, BYU and Oregon.
The playoffs are scheduled to be played on New Year’s Day at the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl with the national championship game scheduled for Jan. 11 in Miami.