The first college football playoff rankings are out and the analysts are picking it apart. It certainly resembles the latest AP Top 25 poll. The Texas Longhorns land at No. 5 in the first rankings of the season.

College Football Playoff selection committee chairman Warde Manuel pointed toward Texas football's road wins at Michigan and Vanderbilt when explaining the committee's decision to place the Longhorns at No.

Texas received a No. 5 ranking and would be slotted as the sixth seed and play No. 11 Alabama in the first round of the new postseason format, according to the initial rankings released by the College Football Playoff selection committee Tuesday night.