2024-25 College Football Playoff: Joel Klatt's takeaways from first rankings

Finally, the first College Football Playoff ranking of the 12-team era is here.

The first rankings were released on Tuesday night. To no surprise, Oregon came in at No. 1. Here's a full look at the rankings and the bracket.

One thing I want to hit on before my main takeaways: Is Ohio State better off with the No. 5 seed than Oregon getting the No. 1 seed or Miami (Fla.) getting the No. 3 seed? Ohio State would get to play a home game against Boise State before taking on BYU in a neutral-site game. Meanwhile, Oregon would have to play Tennessee or Indiana in a neutral-site game, while Miami would face Texas or Alabama in a neutral-site game. That's a terrible spot to be in if you're the Hurricanes. If you're Ohio State, you'd have to think that's an easier path. 

As for the rankings itself, I'm not as bent out of shape over the top 25 as I have been in recent years. That's mostly because it's a 12-team field, and maybe you felt the same way as the reveal went along on Tuesday. It's setting the table for what we're about to see for the next month and paving the path for each contender.

Still, I have some quibbles over the rankings. So, let's go through my top takeaways.

There's only one conclusion I have when I see where Indiana and BYU are ranked: brand bias. There's no other conclusion.

I'm a big believer in the eye test. I've called games for both teams and watched all their tape. Indiana is far better than what the committee ranked it. To be fair, I ranked BYU lower than the committee did in my most recent top 10, placing the Cougars at No. 10. But I'm unapologetic about the eye test and the film. 

The inconsistency, though, is that Indiana would be far higher than what it was ranked on Tuesday. You're telling us the