Mack Rhoades explains why Ohio State earned No. 1 in initial College Football Playoff ranking over Indiana, Texas A&M

The first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2025 season were released Tuesday evening, and there’s already been plenty over debate about the No. 1 spot. Ohio State, last year’s national champion, topped the rankings.

The Buckeyes have an 8-0 record and wins against a couple of other top 25 teams, Texas and Washington, so far this season. However, Indiana and Texas A&M come in behind Ohio State at No. 2 and No. 3 respectively, both teams also having undefeated records.

The Aggies also have the No. 1 strength of record and a better strength of schedule according to ESPN, while Indiana has a top 10 win against Oregon. CFP committee chair Mack Rhoades was questioned about how the group landed on Ohio State as No. 1 during Tuesday evening’s rankings reveal show on ESPN.

“We had robust discussion about the three of them,” he said. “Obviously, all three undefeated. We had great discussion about them on Monday. We really, really felt like Ohio State and Indiana were close. When you looked at the statistical data both offensively and defensively, two teams both in the top five offensively. Two teams both in the top five defensively. Both with really, really good wins. Ohio State a win against Washington and certainly against Texas. Indiana, a win against Oregon and Iowa.

“When we looked at tape and looked at metrics, we felt like Ohio State was a little bit better up front on the offensive line and we felt like they were a little bit better defensively. Then when we looked at statistics and we included Texas A&M as part of the discussion, we just felt like the separator there was defensively and that those two teams, both Ohio State and Indiana, were better defensively. You’re talking about three great teams, three deserving teams and we really had great discussion, great debate about the three.”

Ohio State ranks No. 1 in the country in both points allowed (6.9) and yards allowed (214.8) per game. Indiana is also top 10 in both categories while A&M is much further down the list.

However, the Buckeyes are not a top 10 offensive team in either metric. They rank 17th in popints per game and 30th in yards per game. Those are below both A&M and Indiana.

Ultimately, there’s still plenty of football to be played, including a potential Big Ten Championship matchup between Ohio State and Indiana. Everything should sort itself out as the season moves on, but there’s certainly an interesting discussion to be had now with all three teams unbeaten.