The first College Football Playoff rankings are out, and some Big Ten coaches see a trend: The SEC, which as a contract with ESPN to show games, has five of the top 10 teams. The CFP rankings updates are an ESPN show.

The Big Ten, which has a contract with Fox, has two of the top 10.

"SEC gets a lot of love from ESPN, you know, and all their writers that they don't technically pay but march to their drum," Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said Wednesday on his radio show. "That's why you see all these SEC teams up there. There's some good two-loss teams from the Big Ten not quite as high."

The defending national champion Hoosiers (8-1) are No. 4. UCLA (8-0) is No. 8.

Here are the SEC's top-10 teams: No. 2 Georgia (7-1); No. 5 Alabama (6-2); No. 6 Kentucky (7-1); No. 7 Texas (6-2), No. 10 Mississippi (6-2). Also ranked: No. 13 Tennessee (6-2); No. 14 LSU (6-2); No. 18 Missouri (6-2); No. 21 South Carolina (5-3), and No. 24 Florida (5-3).

Two-loss Big Ten teams include No. 12 Ohio State (6-2), No. 19 Iowa (6-2) and No. 20 USC (6-2). Oregon (5-3) is No. 23.

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"But like I said, it's all gonna be played out on the field," Cignetti said.

The field for the 12-team playoff will be announced on Dec. 6.

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz could see what was coming.

"They seem to promote the sports that they carry. Is that correct? I'm figuring that out," Ferentz said before the rankings were released, adding that he believes ESPN downplayed the World Series, which was on Fox. "Are they still playing the World Series? Oh yeah, Fox, ESPN, I got it."

Ferentz pondered the possibility of the Hawkeyes not making the initial rankings, but they came in 19th.

"Winning isn't political," he said, noting he was speaking on Election Day. "If you win enough, they can't deny it. And if you lose, you're gone."

"SEC gets a lot of love from ESPN, you know, and all their writers that they don't technically pay but march to their drum... That's why you see all these SEC teams up there." - Indiana HC Curt Cignetti on the CFP rankings
(h/t: @KirkwoodandDunn) pic.twitter.com/nNRIsIo6SLhttps://t.co/ar9QlUe9Kp

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 5, 2026

"...We're a Fox conference and several others, but we're not ESPN so we probably won't make the rankings."
- Iowa HC Kirk Ferentz pic.twitter.com/gVv7cP6aAv

— The off-season (@TheOffSeasonCFB) November 3, 2026

College Football Playoff rankings

  1. Miami
  2. Georgia
  3. Utah
  4. Indiana
  5. Alabama
  6. Kentucky
  7. Texas
  8. UCLA
  9. BYU
  10. Ole Miss
  11. Notre Dame
  12. Ohio State
  13. Tennessee
  14. LSU
  15. Texas Tech
  16. Wake Forest
  17. Houston
  18. Missouri
  19. Iowa
  20. USC
  21. South Carolina
  22. Arizona
  23. Oregon
  24. Florida
  25. Boise State

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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: SEC has 5 of top 10 in initial CFP rankings. Big Ten coaches sound off

Source: Yahoo Sports