Oct 29, 2014 11:53 AM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

The College Football Playoff (CFP) selection committee has released their much anticipated first top 25 ranking.

The committee's 12 members gathered in Grapevine, Texas to give a press conference to introduce their first of a series of weekly rankings. The committee's rankings will come out alongside the AP and Coaches' polls, but will be the one that determines the inaugural four-team National Title playoff.

Through week nine of the college football season, the four playoff teams are as follows: Mississippi State (1), Florida State (2), Auburn (3) and Ole Miss (4). With much speculation as to whether or not the committee would favor the SEC, they showed that they would... for now.

Three of the top four teams are in the SEC's Western Division, With Alabama looming in the sixth spot. Joining the Tide on the fringe of the top-four is Oregon (5), TCU (7) and Michigan State (8). Rounding out the top 10 is Kansas State (9) and Notre Dame (10).

"The College Football Playoff selection committee met for the past two days and we engaged in a lively and detailed discussion about who the best teams are in college football, as of October 26," selection chairman Jeff Long, athletic director at Arkansas, said in a press release. "We debated, we reviewed facts and statistics, and we used our judgment. There are 18 one-loss teams in the FBS and the differences between many of these teams are slight. The bottom line is it's early, it's close and it's going to change."

The committee's rankings, which run through Dec. 7, will also determine pairings for the Cotton, Fiesta, Peach and Orange bowl games.

The Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, Calif. and Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, La. will serve as the semifinal games and the title game will be held in AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The Orange and Cotton Bowls are scheduled to host next year's CFP while the Fiesta and Peach Bowls are all scheduled to host the semifinals the year after. The next two title games will be in the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.

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