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Wednesday 31 OctOber 2018

Alabama,

Clemson, BUFFALOED

LSU, Notre

Dame top

1st CFP

Rankings

By RALPH D. RUSSO
AP College Football Writer
If you don't like the first Col-
lege Football Playoff selec-
tion committee rankings,
don't worry. Saturday's
slate of huge games guar-
antees major changes are
coming next week.
Alabama, Clemson, LSU
and Notre Dame were the
top four teams in the ini-
tial CFP rankings Tuesday
night.
After meeting for a day
and a half at a hotel out-
side Dallas, the 13-mem-
ber selection committee
released the first of its five
weekly top 25s before the
four-team field is set for the
semifinals on Dec. 2.
Michigan was fifth, fol-
lowed by Georgia and
Oklahoma. Washington
State was eighth, the high-
est-ranked Pac-12 team.
Kentucky was ninth.
Of course, the final rankings
are the only ones that mat-
ter, but the playoff picture
will be reshaped this week-
end. Four games matching
top-20 teams are on tap
Saturday, including Ala-
bama at LSU and Georgia
at Kentucky.
West Virginia, 13th in the
CFP, is at Texas, which is
17th. Michigan hosts Penn
State, which came in at 14.
The first top four teams
were no surprise. The same
teams are Nos. 1-4 in the
latest Associated Press poll,
except with Notre Dame Patriots pull ahead in the end to beat Bills, 25-6
third and LSU fourth.

Continued on Page 23 New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, back, makes a catch against Buffalo Bills defensive back Phillip Gaines during the
second half of an NFL football game, Monday, Oct. 29, 2018, in Orchard Park, N.Y.
Associated Press
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