The College Football Playoff revealed its first rankings of the season Tuesday evening, placing the Gophers at No. 17 of 25 teams.
The Gophers, who are ranked No. 13 in the Associate Press top-25 poll, are 8-0 this season for the first time since 1941 and have a two-game lead in the Big Ten West. They face No. 5 Penn State on Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium, a team that could be in those national championship semifinals come the end of the season.
The Nittany Lions came in at No. 4 in the rankings, along with No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 LSU and No. 3 Alabama. Should those rankings stay the same, it would be the first double appearance for the Big Ten as well as the first appearance for any conference team in two years.
Complete playoff selection committee rankings
The rankings will come out each Tuesday until the final reveal Dec. 8 that will determine which teams play in the Dec. 28 Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl and PlayStation Fiesta Bowl. The CFP championship game is Jan. 13 in New Orleans.
