Utah at No. 14 in initial College Football Playoff rankings; 1 of 5 teams ranked from Pac-12

SALT LAKE CITY — Ahead of the 2022 season, Utah was projected to be a contender for the College Football Playoff and be the team from the Pac-12 to finally break its postseason drought.

Utah had the returning talent on offense that led the team to a Rose Bowl appearance, a defense that seemingly always rebuilds, and a nonconference resume to bolster its nine-game conference record. But Utah stumbled along the way and dropped a season-opening game on the road to Florida and then a game to a much-improved UCLA team.

The playoff chances were seemingly thrown out the window,

And while the chance of Utah earning a bid to the four-team playoff remains slim, if at all, the College Football Playoff selection committee slotted the Utes at No. 14 in the first rankings of the season released Tuesday evening on ESPN.

Utah's spot in the first playoff rankings of the season is mostly in line with their No. 12 spot in the latest Associated Press Top 25 rankings that were released on Sunday. It's the seventh time in the nine-year history of the playoff that Utah has been ranked, with its highest initial ranking of season coming in 2019 when it checked in at No. 8.

The Utes are one of five teams ranked in the initial playoff rankings, with Oregon leading the conference at No. 8. Behind the Ducks in the rankings is No. 9 USC, No. 12 UCLA and No. 23 Oregon State. With five teams in the rankings, especially four in the Top 15, there's a decent shot the Pac-12 may break their long drought.

Oregon remains the favorite to be included in the playoff, but a blowout loss to Georgia in Week 1 is a factor that continues to hang over the team's head. But playoff selection committee chair Boo Corrigan said a win over UCLA has "gone a long way" for the Ducks.

"They've scored at least 41 points since that game and have really — Bo Nix has had a great season, along with so many other quarterbacks as the season has gone on. As we looked at it, obviously that initial game, what they've been able to do since that time I think has really turned the committee's head."

At the top of the College Football Playoff rankings is No. 1 Tennessee, which is one spot higher than its spot in the AP Top 25. The Volunteers, which have wins over three Top 25 teams (and five against teams that were ranked at the time they played them), is followed by No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Georgia, and No. 4 Clemson.

"The debate over the Top 25 rankings were extensive and very animated, particularly at the top," Corrigan said. "A case was made for Ohio State to be No. 1, for Georgia and for Tennessee, and there were good arguments for each one of the schools.

"At the end of the debate, the committee voted Tennessee No. 1 because of their impressive road win at LSU and their victory over Alabama, and Alabama is a team that the committee respects highly. Ohio State has a powerful offense and a very solid defense, impressive win last week over Penn State. Georgia has been dominant this season, which has been plain to see, in particular the win over Oregon at the start of the season."

Corrigan said there was a "lively discussion" about the top teams in their rankings — particularly the top three — who separated themselves from the rest of the pack. He said the three "separated themselves as time went on in the meeting yesterday, and we spent a great deal of time making sure that we got 1, 2 and 3 right, with the two wins by Tennessee being the determining factor."

Just missing out on the top four spots in the rankings is No. 5 Michigan and No. 6 Alabama. Corrigan said Michigan remains "right there" in terms of being among the top teams.

"In a larger picture, the signature win against Penn State, a well-balanced team. But at the end of it, when you look at that strength of schedule, it is something that we do talk about as one of the principles that guides us. At this point in time, again, after Week 9, we felt they were right in the No. 5 position."

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