Aztecs make first 2021 CFP rankings at No. 24
Credit: Paul Garrison/EVT Sports
For the first time since College Football Playoff(CFP) was introduced in 2014, the San Diego State Aztecs are ranked in the top-25 by the College Football Playoff selection committee.
Their inaugural ranking is at No.24.
These CFP rankings are actually meaningful to end of the season selections, unlike the AP Poll rankings that football fans are used to seeing and were used to start the season.
Before Saturday, the Aztecs were undefeated and ranked in the AP Poll for their 7-0 start.
San Diego State lost on Saturday 30-20 to Fresno State and fell out of Sunday’s AP Poll rankings.
When the rankings were revealed from bottom to top, it was surprising to see the Aztecs ranked. However, the committee revealed that Fresno State is their 23rd ranked team, meaning that the committee did not view SDSU’s loss on Saturday in a negative way.
🚨 THE CFB PLAYOFF TOP 25 🚨 pic.twitter.com/w7CyOIOQR8
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) November 2, 2021
None of the other teams on the Aztecs’ schedule were in the original rankings. It is reasonable to assume that the 5-3 Utah Utes, whom the Aztecs beat on September 18, is somewhat close to being ranked. If the Utes continue to win, it will also improve the Aztecs’ resume.
San Diego State is the fourth-highest group-of-five conference team in the rankings, trailing Fresno State, 15th ranked BYU(Independent), and 6th ranked Cincinnati(American). The highest-ranked group-of-five team receives an automatic bid to a New Year’s Six bowl games, which is the biggest bowl games and a goal of the San Diego State program.
These CFP rankings will be released every Tuesday at 4:00 PT through the end of the regular season. The final rankings will be released the morning of December 5, the day after the conclusion of all of the conference championships.
If the Aztecs suffer another loss, they will likely never make it back in the CFP rankings, as they are already on the bottom of the rankings and would lose to an unranked team.
Their hope to make a New Year’s Six Bowl is to win their last four regular-season games, one more Fresno State loss to put the Aztecs back in the Mountain West Conference championship game, a strong ending to the season from Utah, and a rough conclusion of the season for both Cincinnati and BYU.
Looking forward to the next one. #BeatUH #Win22 pic.twitter.com/SYPwp4bza0
— San Diego State Football (@AztecFB) November 1, 2021
San Diego State travel to play against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors on Saturday.
Dominic is a graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, with a bachelor’s degree in Sports Journalism. He also is the producer and co-host of the “Padres EVT Podcast.”