The Kansas football program has received a ranking in the College Football Playoff’s top 25 teams for the first time in its history.
The CFP’s 13-member selection committee unveiled its first rankings of the season Tuesday night live on ESPN, and it will continue ranking teams on a weekly basis until it selects its ultimate top four participants in early December. KU comes in at No. 21 in the first edition following its upset victory over Oklahoma (ranked at No. 9 following the loss) in Lawrence on Saturday.
KU is also No. 22 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches Poll this week.
The Jayhawks achieved a couple of national rankings midway through last season as they opened 5-0, but this year is the first time they have managed to be successful late enough in a season to qualify for the CFP’s rankings, which begin after nine weeks of play.
Their 13-year drought without an appearance in the AP poll, which concluded last season, encompassed the demise of the Bowl Championship Series and its replacement by the CFP in 2014.
Other Big 12 Conference teams in the inaugural rankings besides KU and OU include Texas (No. 7), Oklahoma State (No. 22, despite having beaten KU) and Kansas State (No. 23). The Jayhawks are one game out of first place in the conference as part of a seven-team logjam that also includes West Virginia and this week’s opponent, Iowa State.
The Jayhawks travel to Ames, Iowa, to face the Cyclones this Saturday at 6 p.m.
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
