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Gators, Hurricanes among top 10 of initial College Football Playoff rankings

Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson, Ohio State make up top 4 spots
Miami Hurricanes tight end Brevin Jordan tackled by Florida Gators in 2019
Posted at 7:33 PM, Nov 24, 2020
and last updated 2020-11-24 21:41:41-05

The Florida Gators and Miami Hurricanes are in the College Football Playoff hunt.

Florida (6-1) is ranked No. 6 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday night, while Miami (7-1) is four spots behind at No. 10.

The Gators are the third-highest ranked Southeastern Conference team behind top-ranked Alabama (7-0) and No. 5 Texas A&M (5-1), which handed Florida its only loss of the season.

Texas A&M Aggies running back Isaiah Spiller runs vs. Florida Gators in 2020
Texas A&M running back Isaiah Spiller follows his blockers while running against Florida during the second half, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020, in College Station, Texas.

"(Florida quarterback) Kyle Trask is playing at the top of his game right now," selection committee chair Gary Barta told reporters on a teleconference after the rankings were released. "So there was a lot of discussion in this area on these teams, but at the end of the day we just felt Texas A&M earned the No. 5 ranking."

No. 2 Notre Dame (8-0), No. 3 Clemson (7-1) and No. 4 Ohio State (4-0) round out the top four.

The Fighting Irish hold the edge over the Tigers by virtue of their 47-40 double overtime win earlier this month, but both teams appear headed for a rematch in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship game.

A loss for Clemson, which has been without quarterback Trevor Lawrence each of its past two games, would essentially eliminate the Tigers from playoff contention.

That would pave the way for either Texas A&M or Florida to claim a seat among the top four.

Assuming the Crimson Tide, Aggies and Gators win their remaining regular-season games, Alabama and Florida would play for the SEC title. Texas A&M's lone loss was to Alabama earlier in the season.

What remains unclear is whether Clemson and Notre Dame would remain among the top four should the Tigers win in a rematch. Barta said the committee does take into account that Clemson's lone loss came when Lawrence was sidelined.

Although Miami won't play its next game until December, the Hurricanes have an outside shot at rising in the rankings if the teams ahead of them stumble.