Normally, the first College Football Playoff rankings come out around the point of the season where every unbeaten FBS team, no matter how small, has built up some measure of credibility.
However, two undefeated squads were left out of this year’s first rankings Tuesday evening: James Madison and Liberty.
The case of the Dukes is straightforward, if somewhat controversial: James Madison is ineligible for both Sun Belt and national accolades because the Dukes are in the process of transitioning from FCS to FBS. Thus, an 8–0 team ranked 23rd in the AP Poll will not receive CFP ranking consideration going forward, despite an unbeaten ledger and a win over Virginia.
The Flames, on the other hand, are very much eligible for CFP, New Year's Six and Conference USA title consideration. Liberty's light schedule, though, includes none of the Power Five games that often vault Group of Five teams into the national conversation. Outside of their eight-game conference slate, the Flames' non-conference schedule includes Bowling Green, Buffalo, Old Dominion and Massachusetts.
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Hannah Pajewski/USA TODAY Sports
Either one of these teams could potentially lose in November or December, making any future controversy over their Top 25 exclusion moot. Whether James Madison or Liberty have done enough to merit being ranked in the present is another matter entirely.
FBS's other six undefeated teams—No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Florida State, No. 5 Washington and No. 25 Air Force—were all ranked.
