Predicting the College Football Playoff rankings - ESPN

The College Football Playoff selection committee doesn't officially meet to start deliberating its first of six rankings until Monday, so the only clues to what it might do are found in written protocols and past decisions.

Statement wins always have and always will loom large, as will elite talent and Heisman Trophy-caliber athletes, where games are played and how contests unfold. Head-to-head results (sometimes), common opponents and FCS opponents also are considered. So are injuries to key players, like Georgia All-American tight end Brock Bowers.

Nowhere in the protocol does it say anything about how to handle allegations of cheating against Michigan. Which is why several former selection committee members have said this current group will probably rank the Wolverines based on how they have played so far — and leave the gossip in the hallway. If a team is eligible for the postseason, it's eligible to be ranked.

So far, that hasn't changed for Michigan.

What might change is the SEC's place in the top four.

The SEC has had the top team in 43 of the past 54 total CFP rankings. No team has been ranked No. 1 more than Alabama (24 times), followed by Georgia (12). Both could be on the outside looking in, with their season-defining games still looming.

How much will Tuesday's ranking foreshadow what happens on Selection Day? According to ESPN Stats & Information, seven of the nine No. 1 teams in the first CFP ranking of each season have reached the playoff. The only exceptions were Mississippi State in 2014, the inaugural season of the playoff, and Tennessee last year.

So who will have the honor of starting this season No. 1? Here is a prediction not only for the top spot but for the first 12.

Why they could be here: With