Clemson tops first College Football Playoff rankings

Oct 31, 2015; Raleigh, NC, USA; Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney (center) sings the alma-mater with players Kevin Dodd (98) and Seth Ryan (85) after a game against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at Carter Finley Stadium. Clemson won 56-41. (Rob Kinnan/USA Today Sports)

Clemson was ranked No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff poll of 2015 released Tuesday night.

The unbeaten Tigers were followed by LSU at No. 2, defending national champion Ohio State at No. 3 and Alabama at No. 4.

The rest of the top 10, in order, was Notre Dame, Baylor, Michigan State, TCU, Iowa and Florida.

Clemson has won 11 straight and 16 of its last 17 games as it prepares to play Florida State on Saturday in an ACC showdown.

Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said earlier Tuesday that he didn’t care about being No. 1.

“It’s so irrelevant,” Swinney said.”If we want an opportunity to do that, we’ve got to win this game. You’ve got to earn your way there. You don’t get any passes, so it has nothing to do with where we are right now.

“The only poll that we’re excited about is Dec. 6 (the final rankings), and I promise you we’ll have the biggest poll party you’ve seen.”