Playoff rankings: Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson, Ohio St.

Alabama was No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season Tuesday night, followed by Notre Dame, Clemson and Ohio State.

Texas A&M was fifth and Florida was sixth, giving the Southeastern Conference three of the top six teams along with Alabama.

Unbeaten Cincinnati from the American Athletic Conference at seventh has the best ranking for a non-Power Five team in the seven-year history of the selection committee’s top 25.

Another unbeaten team from outside the Power Five was not so highly regarded by the committee. BYU was slotted 14th.

This is the first of four rankings leading up to the only ones that really count, scheduled to be released on Dec. 20.

The pandemic didn’t stop the selection committee from meeting in person as usual at the Gaylord Hotel in Grapevine Texas, just outside of Dallas. And the playoff itself is scheduled to

go off as scheduled with the semifinals on Jan. 1 in the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl and the championship game Jan. 11 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

Minnesota- Wisconsin game canceled

MINNEAPOLIS» For the first time in 114 years, the Minnesota-Wisconsin game has been bumped off the schedule.

Minnesota called off its annual battle with Wisconsin for Paul Bunyan’s Axe — which was slated for Saturday — due to an uptick in COVID-19 cases within the program. The decision made by Minnesota will also likely make the 18thranked Badgers ineligible for the Big Ten championship game, because of two earlier canceled games.

Utah’s game against Arizona State — scheduled for Sunday — was also added to the cancellation list because the Sun Devils still don’t have enough scholarship players available. No. 24 Tulsa’s game on Saturday against Houston also was postponed because of Houston’s COVID-19 issues.