The College Football Playoff is set, with Alabama playing Ohio State and Oregon facing off against undefeated Florida State. But here at the College Football Vegas Rankings, we have different final four teams.
The CFB Vegas Rankings are the composite power ratings of a panel of professional handicappers and college football statisticians, including fellow Insider Phil Steele, Brian Edwards and Bruce Marshall of The Gold Sheet. The ratings are intended to weigh the relative strengths of the teams if they met on a neutral field and to be compared to the point spread on a given game.
For example, if Alabama and Florida State were to play on a neutral field this week, the Crimson Tide would be considered a six-point favorite by our ratings.
Here's a look at the 25 best teams in college football right now, according to Las Vegas:
College Football Vegas Rankings
1. Alabama Crimson Tide (Power rating: 50)
Alabama stays at the No. 1 spot in the College Football Playoff Rankings with its win over Missouri in the SEC championship. Alabama finishes the season 4-8-1 against the spread and is one of three teams in the SEC East to finish the regular season with an ATS record under .500. (Auburn and Texas A&M are the others.)
Previous rating: 50
2. Oregon Ducks (48.5)
The streak continued for Oregon this week after it beat Arizona in the Pac-12 championship game. Since losing to Arizona in Week 6, Oregon is 8-0 straight up and ATS, winning by an average of 26 points per game.
Previous rating: 47.5
3. TCU Horned Frogs (46.5)
An amazing regular season for TCU ended without a playoff trip. The Horned Frogs are 11-1 SU and 10-2 ATS, with their only two ATS losses on the road and their only SU loss on the road to Baylor by three. TCU has scored the second-most points per game in the FBS this season.
Previous rating: 46
4. Baylor Bears (45.5)
Baylor missed out on the College Football Playoff, but in the Vegas Rankings it comes in at No. 4. The Big 12 has been well represented in these rankings with TCU at No. 3 and Baylor here. TCU's ATS record may be the bigger advantage it has over Baylor this season.
Previous rating: 45
5. Ohio State Buckeyes (45)
After Ohio State's win over Wisconsin 59-0 in the Big Ten championship game, it reached the College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes did dismantle Wisconsin, but close wins and non-covers against Michigan, Indiana and Minnesota before that have Vegas looking closely at the Buckeyes.
Previous rating: 43
6. Florida State Seminoles (44)
Of the four teams in the College Football Playoff, Florida State clearly has the worst ATS record -- and it isn't even close, as Florida State ended the regular season 3-10 ATS. Since the start of the BCS ranking system in 1998, only two teams have won a national championship with a record below .500 ATS (2005 Florida and 2006 LSU).
Previous rating: 44
7. Mississippi State Bulldogs (43)
After the top six teams, there is a much larger gap than just the one point the College Football Vegas Rankings shows. Mississippi State ended the season with a loss to in-state rival Ole Miss, but Mississippi State's two biggest wins may have been against LSU and Auburn, which says a lot about its season.
Previous rating: 43
8. Michigan State Spartans (42.5)
Just imagine the season Michigan State could have had if it had had a better performance against Ohio State. After its loss to Ohio State, Michigan State ended the season 3-0 SU and ATS against Maryland, Rutgers and Penn State.
Previous rating: 42.5
9. Ole Miss Rebels (42)
Ole Miss started out the season 7-0, but losses in three of the four games before the Egg Bowl brought its expectations down to nearly nothing. That may have been the reason for its spectacular performance against in-state rival Mississippi State, which had all the pressure with a chance at the College Football Playoff on the line. Ole Miss ended the season 3-0 SU as an underdog against Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Alabama.
Previous rating: 42
10. Kansas State Wildcats (41)
Kansas State finished the regular season 9-3 SU with losses to Auburn, TCU and Baylor, and its best wins against Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and West Virginia. Over the past four seasons, Kansas State is 38-13 SU, which is the third-best record in the Big 12 behind Baylor and Oklahoma.
Previous rating: 42
Next five:
11. Georgia Bulldogs (40.5)
12. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (40)
13. Missouri Tigers (39.5)
T-14. LSU Tigers (39)
T-14. Auburn Tigers (39)
T-14. Arkansas Razorbacks (39)