The first College Football Playoff rankings of the season dropped on Tuesday with Miami sitting at No. 1 for the first time in the 13-year history of the format.
Georgia is ranked second, Utah third, and Indiana fourth.
It’s the first time the top four teams in any College Football Playoff ranking have come from four different conferences.
In two seasons since the field expanded, 18 of the 24 teams that started inside the top 12 in the initial rankings eventually reached the College Football Playoff.
21 of the 24 playoff teams were among the top 25 in those initial rankings.
Bottom line: the early rankings still hold weight.
The stage is set for a clash with massive implications as No. 1 Miami hosts No. 11 Notre Dame on Saturday night.
The Hurricanes have averaged 47.6 points per game – the best mark in NCAA football.
The Fighting Irish have held their opponents to 13.38 points per game and own the top-ranked total defence.
The contrast is clean, but the matchup got a bit messier for Miami when star wide receiver Malachi Toney suffered a high ankle sprain in practice on Wednesday.
Toney is expected to miss four weeks.
The Heisman Trophy contender ranks in the top three in the FBS in receptions (73), receiving yards (1,027), and touchdown receptions (13) this season.
With one of the best receivers in NCAA football sidelined, the task gets much tougher for QB Darian Mensah, who is no longer the favourite to win the Heisman Trophy.
Mensah’s odds to win the Heisman climbed to +165 with the news his best weapon will be sidelined, with Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith reemerging as the favourite to win that award at +160.
Mensah has thrown for 2,425 yards and 25 touchdowns.
He’s completed 80.7 per cent of his pass attempts with only one interception.
Mensah has completed 86 per cent of his pass attempts to Toney this season.
He’s completed 78 per cent of his attempts to everybody else.
The Fighting Irish opened -4.5 at FanDuel on Sunday.
That number has climbed to Notre Dame -7.5 at FanDuel.
That move is particularly interesting considering that 68 per cent of the bets and 54 per cent of the stakes are on the Hurricanes to cover the spread, per the FanDuel traders.
81 per cent of the bets are on Miami to win outright, but those bets account for only 44 per cent of the stakes.
Earlier in the day, No. 3 Utah will host No. 9 BYU in a game you can catch on TSN Premium at 12 PM ET.
Both teams are in the thick of the playoff race at 8-0.
The winner of Saturday’s game will stay perfect and strengthen their grip on the Big 12 championship.
Utah is a 4.5-point favourite with the total at 48.5.
Per the FanDuel traders, 59 per cent of the bets and 57 per cent of the stakes are on the Utes to win cover the spread at home.
Utah is -230 to make the College Football Playoff and +125 to win the Big 12 conference championship.
The Cougars are +170 to make the playoff and +310 to win the Big 12 title.
Saturday’s games will not decide anything for certain, but they should give us a lot more clarity at the top.
A BYU win would keep them in the mix on both fronts, while a Utes win would create a lot more separation.
Meanwhile, the Toney injury couldn’t have a come at a worse time for top-ranked Miami, and a loss to Notre Dame would leave us all wondering what could have been if the star wide receiver never got hurt.
The first rankings of the season have help set the stage.
This Saturday’s games will provide some answers to the questions that those rankings raised.
Have a great weekend, everyone!