Florida is ranked No. 10 in this season’s first edition of the College Football Playoff rankings, which were released on Tuesday night.
It’s the first time the Gators have made an appearance in the playoff rankings since the inception of the four-team playoff that debuted last season.
The current teams in the top four are No. 1 Clemson, No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 Alabama, with No. 5 Notre Dame and No. 6 Baylor just behind.
No. 7 Michigan State, No. 8 TCU and No. 9 Iowa round out the top-10 ahead of Florida.
After LSU, Alabama and Florida, the Southeastern Conference also has No. 18 Ole Miss, No. 19 Texas A&M and No. 20 Mississippi State in the top-25, making a total of six teams — the most of any conference.
Florida State comes in at No. 16
In last year’s initial rankings, the Seminoles were the only team ranked in the top-four who would go on to finish in the top four in the final rankings.
Ohio State, last season’s champions, were ranked No. 16 in the initial 2014 rankings.
The College Football Playoff Committee will release new rankings each of the next five weeks until the conclusion of the regular season, at which point the rankings will determine the four teams to participate in the playoff and the teams who will play in the remaining New Year’s six bowl games.
Follow Graham Hack on Twitter @graham_hack24
UF coach Jim McElwain watches on during warm-ups prior to Florida's 27-3 win against Georgia on Oct. 31, 2015, at EverBank Field in Jacksonville.
