No change among top teams in CFP rankings
There was no change atop the College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday, with Alabama taking the top spot followed by Notre Dame, Clemson and Ohio State for the third straight week.
The ratings were dominated by the Southeastern Conference, which placed four teams in the top nine and five overall.
Alabama (9-0), Notre Dame (10-0) and Ohio State (5-0) are all undefeated. Clemson’s lone loss came in double overtime at Notre Dame in a game in which the Tigers (9-1) didn’t have Heisman Trophy hopeful quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who was held out due to COVID-19. Lawrence has thrown for 598 yards and three touchdowns collectively in lopsided wins over Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh the past two weeks.
Texas A&M (7-1) remained fifth, a spot ahead of Florida (8-1), which has won six straight since losing to the Aggies on Oct. 10.
Notre Dame and Clemson will meet in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game on Dec. 19 while Alabama and Florida will meet that day in the Southeastern Conference title game.
The CFP selection committee is slated to release the next rankings on Dec. 15 before announcing the final selections Dec. 20. Conference championship games and other matchups are set for Dec. 18 and Dec. 19. The CFP semifinals will be held in the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, with the winners advancing to play in Miami Gardens, Fla., on Jan. 11.
Ohio State and Michigan won’t play each other for the first time since 1917 due to COVID-related issues within the Wolverines’ program. At 5-0, the Buckeyes would need to play another Big Ten opponent this weekend or have the six-game threshold for reaching the league championship changed so they could face No. 14 Northwestern (5-1) next week in Big Ten title game in Indianapolis.
Iowa State (8-2) jumped two spots to No. 7 after beating West Virginia 42-6. The Cyclones are the highest-rated two-loss team. Georgia (6-2) fell a spot to No. 9 after its scheduled game against Vanderbilt last weekend was postponed.
Cincinnati (8-0) dropped one place to No. 8. The Bearcats are the midst of consecutive postponements — at Temple last week and at No. 24 Tulsa (6-1) this week — due to COVID-19 issues. Cincinnati and Tulsa will meet in the American Athletic Conference title game on Dec. 19.
BYU (9-1) dropped five spots to No. 18 after losing 22-17 at Coastal Carolina (10-0), which ascended five spots — to No. 13 — by beating the Cougars.
Miami (7-1), which was blown out by Clemson 42-17 earlier this season, remained at No. 10. North Carolina (7-3) remained at No. 17, and North Carolina State (8-3) entered at No. 23, giving the ACC four ranked teams.
The Big Ten has four teams in the rankings, as No. 12 Indiana (6-1, lost to Ohio State) and No. 16 Iowa (5-2) made it along with Ohio State and Northwestern. Wisconsin fell from No. 16 to out of the Top 25 after losing to Indiana.
The Big 12 has four teams in the CFP rankings — No. 7 Iowa State, No. 11 Oklahoma (7-2), No. 20 Texas (6-3) and No. 22 Oklahoma State (6-3), which fell seven spots after losing at TCU.
The Pac-12, the last FBS conference to open the season, is represented by No. 15 Southern California (4-0) and No. 21 Colorado (4-0) after Washington (3-1) and Oregon (3-2) dropped out this week.
Louisiana (9-1) jumped six spots to No. 19 while Missouri (5-3) entered the ranking at No. 25 after rallying to defeat Arkansas on Saturday.
–Field Level Media
