WSU No. 8 in college football rankings

OLIVER MCKENNA | DAILY EVERGREEN FILE

Senior wide receiver Kyle Sweet, left, sophomore wide receiver Tay Martin, center, and junior wide receiver Dezmon Patmon celebrate after Patmon caught the game winning touchdown pass in the game against Oregon on Oct. 20 at Martin Stadium.

JOHN SPELLMAN, Evergreen reporter

The Cougars have been ranked No. 8 in the first official College Football Playoff rankings revealed Tuesday afternoon.

This is the highest WSU has ever been in the CFP rankings as the team reached No. 13 last season. The top four teams in the final ranking will participate in the playoff at the end of the season.

The rankings will continue to be released weekly by the CFP’s 13 member selection committee, which decides what teams are ranked and where. Five more rankings will be released before the final ranking on selection day, which decides the teams that make the semifinals.

This year’s semifinal games will be the Capital One Orange Bowl and the Cotton Bowl Classic, both will be played Dec. 29 with the national championship set for Jan. 7.