The College Football Playoff race is turning the final corner and about to hit the final straightaway. With one more week of the regular season to play and the conference championships to be played after that, it is crunch time for playoff contenders. On Tuesday night, the College Football Playoff selection committee returned to action to rank the top 25 teams in college football, and there is a new No. 1 in town. Ohio State climbed ahead of LSU in this week’s rankings following their notable win against Penn State this weekend. The top four still includes the same teams as last week with LSU, Clemson, and Georgia following the Buckeyes.
As expected, Oregon and Penn State each took a fall in the rankings this week, but each took a different tumble. Penn State only fell back two spots to remain in the top 10 of the playoff rankings after their loss at Ohio State. Oregon, meanwhile, fell out of the top 10 entirely and landed at No. 14 this week after a road loss at Arizona State. Orgeon sits one step ahead of the only other team to beat them this year, No. 15 Auburn. Penn State’s rank suggests the Nittany Lions could be in the running for the Orange Bowl if the Rose Bowl doesn’t pan out.
Alabama holds firm at the No. 5 spot waiting for some help to get into the top four. The Crimson Tide remains one spot ahead of No. 6 Utah, although it remains to be seen if a potential 1-loss PAC-12 champion Utah will manage to move ahead of Alabama (the same goes for a 1-loss Big 12 champion Oklahoma or Baylor).
Memphis is the highest-ranked Group of Five team, although they are just one spot ahead of Cincinnati, a team they could potentially face twice in the next two weeks with their regular-season finale and a potential rematch a week later in the AAC Championship Game. Boise State sits just behind both AAC favorites, hoping for a split between the AAC contenders the next two weeks to make a return to the New Years Six lineup. Appalachian State fell to No. 25 but remains in the running.
The full rankings:
- Ohio State
- LSU
- Clemson
- Georgia
- Alabama
- Utah
- Oklahoma
- Minnesota
- Baylor
- Penn State
- Florida
- Wisconsin
- Michigan
- Oregon
- Auburn
- Notre Dame
- Iowa
- Memphis
- Cincinnati
- Boise State
- Oklahoma State
- USC
- Iowa State
- Virginia Tech
- Appalachian State