Wake Forest Ranked 9th in First CFP Rankings

The initial rankings for the 2021 College Football Playoff came out on Tuesday night, and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons are in the top 10.

The 8-0 Deacs sit as the 9th best team in college football this season, right behind the 9-0 Oklahoma Sooners. When asked about Wake Forest, CFP Committee Chair Gary Barta had this to say:

“I think the committee would say that their best win was at Virginia. Their strength of schedule, it’s not real strong. It’s very similar to Oklahoma’s, but when you compare it to some other programs above them, it’s not real strong. They don’t have a signature win. They have some nice wins, but they don’t have a signature win. So it’s a really solid team, veteran, impressive, powerful offense that are putting up points.”

That does seem like a pretty accurate assessment of Wake in the 2021 season thus far, however, I do think if Clemson was sitting at 8-0 with the exact same schedule, they would be sitting somewhere in the top 5. If the Deacs win out, beating #19 NC State and potentially #25 Pittsburgh in the ACC Championship game, then they would have a much better case to move into the top 4.

There is, of course, always a ton of controversy and debate surrounding the CFP rankings. Personally, it looks like Alabama has once again been ranked based on their name, while Cincinnati, as I have said for weeks, is just not making the playoff unless all the teams in front of them lose multiple games. Whatever your feelings about the rankings are, the only thing Wake Forest can do to try to move up is continue to go 1-0 every week.

What are your thoughts on the rankings?