Things got a little crazy last week in college football. The fallout from the upsets and significant victories was revealed in the College Football Playoff committee rankings released Tuesday.
Entering the reveal, the big questions started with determining the team that would occupy the No. 5 spot held by Indiana before the Hoosiers fell apart against Ohio State on Saturday. That position went to Notre Dame, which improved one spot after defeating Army, which was ranked No. 19 by the committee last week.
The Fighting Irish are in line to host a home game in the first round with a win against Southern California in their finale. Miami is slotted behind the Fighting Irish after an improvement of two places. The Hurricanes must beat Syracuse to reach the ACC championship game against SMU. Indiana ended up at No. 10 and finishes its regular season against Purdue.
The other question was where Alabama and Mississippi would fall after each suffered a third loss. The Crimson Tide and Rebels were ranked No. 7 and No. 9, respectively, before Week 13. With each out of the SEC championship race, where would they stack up against the other at-large contenders? Alabama fell to No. 13 and Mississippi slotted in at No. 14 and need serious help to make the field.
The top 10 was completed by No. 7 Georgia, No. 8 Tennessee and No. 9 SMU. The two SEC teams in this group face tricky games this week with the Bulldogs hosting Georgia Tech and the Volunteers meeting Vanderbilt.
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There was no mystery at the top of the rankings with Oregon, Ohio State, Texas and Penn State continuing to occupy the first four positions for the third consecutive week. The Ducks are set to play in the Big Ten title game in two weeks. The Buckeyes and Longhorns must beat respective rivals Michigan and Texas A&M to secure spots in the Big Ten and SEC championship games. The Nittany Lions would face Oregon if they beat Maryland and Ohio State loses.
No. 11 Boise State remains the top Group of Five team and would lock up one of the five spots given to conference champions by beating Oregon State and either UNLV or Colorado State in the Mountain West title game. It’s possible the Broncos could earn a first-round bye given to the four highest-rated champions. They currently are five spots ahead of Arizona State, the top team from the Big 12 in the rankings. No. 17 Tulane is also in the mix for an automatic spot with a win against Memphis on Thanksgiving, then winning the American Athletic championship game against Army.
The SEC continues to have the most teams in the rankings with all eight that appeared last week holding in the top 25. The Big Ten has five teams with No. 23 Illinois joining Oregon, Ohio State, Penn State and Indiana. The Big 12 also has five teams with Brigham Young and Colorado, its two top schools last week, staying in after losses, and Kansas State joining. The ACC has three and the Mountain West have two.
This is the fourth ranking release from the College Football Playoff committee. There will be another next Tuesday, and the final rankings will be announced Dec. 8 and establish the 12-team field that will determine this season’s national champion.
What is the College Football Playoff schedule?
First-round games will take place Dec. 20 and Dec. 21 at campus sites with the higher seeds hosting. The No. 5 seed will play the No. 12 seed, No. 6 faces No. 11, No. 7 matches up with No. 10 and No. 8 meets No. 9.
Winners of those games will advance to the quarterfinals. The Fiesta Bowl will be played on Dec. 31. The Sugar Bowl, Rose Bowl and Peach Bowl will be played Jan. 1.
The Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl will host the semifinals on Jan. 9 and Jan. 10, respectively.
The championship game will be played Jan. 20 in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The schedule based on this week’s rankings would look like this:
First-round games (with seeding)
No. 12 Arizona State at No. 5 Ohio State
No. 11 Indiana at No. 6 Penn State
No. 10 SMU at No. 7 Notre DAme
No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Georgia
Quarterfinals
Fiesta Bowl: No. 4 Boise State vs. Ohio State-Arizona State winner
Peach Bowl: No. 3 Miami vs. Penn State-Indiana winner
Sugar Bowl: No. 2 Texas vs. Notre Dame-SMU winner
Rose Bowl: No. 1 Oregon vs. Georgia-Tennessee winner
College Football Playoff rankings Top 25
1. Oregon (11-0)
2. Ohio State (10-1)
3. Texas (10-1)
4. Penn State (10-1)
5. Notre Dame (10-1)
6. Miami (Fla) (10-1)
7. Georgia (9-2)
8. Tennessee (9-2)
9. SMU (10-1)
10. Indiana (10-1)
11. Boise State (10-1)
12. Clemson (9-2)
13. Alabama (8-3)
14. Mississippi (8-3)
15. South Carolina (8-3)
16. Arizona State (9-2)
17. Tulane (9-2)
18. Iowa State (9-2)
19. Brigham Young (9-2)
20. Texas A&M (8-3)
21. Missouri (8-3)
22. UNLV (9-2)
23. Illinois (8-3)
24. Kansas State (8-3)
25. Colorado (8-3)