Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart leads his team to the field to play the Missouri Tigers at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri on September 17, 2016. File photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI |
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The second College Football Playoffs rankings released Tuesday night looked very much like the first one released a week ago, although games this weekend could have impact going forward.
The top five teams this week, as chosen by the 13-member selection committee, were identical to the top five teams a week ago, with Georgia (9-0) holding the No. 1 spot, followed by No. 2 Alabama (9-0), No. 3 Notre Dame (8-1) and No. 4 Clemson (8-1). Those would be the four teams involved in the College Football Playoff if it were held today.
But these ranking don't matter at all at this point. The pairings for the four-team national championship playoff are not determined until the final CFP rankings come out on Dec. 3.
Holding the fifth spot again this week is Oklahoma (8-1). The newcomer to the top six is TCU (8-1), as Ohio State, which was No. 6 a week ago, slipped all the way to No. 13 following its 55-24 loss to Iowa.
Unbeaten Miami (8-0) moved up from No. 10 to No. 7 following its victory over Virginia Tech, while unbeaten Wisconsin (9-0) moved up just one spot to No. 8.
Washington (8-1) comes in at No. 9, and Auburn (7-2), the highest ranked two-loss team, is No. 10.
Auburn hosts Georgia this Saturday in game that will have an impact on the rankings. The other Saturday game with significant ranking ramifications is Notre Dame's game at Miami. Notre Dame's only loss was by one point against Georgia.
The biggest gains were made by a pair of Big Ten teams, with Iowa (6-3) going from unranked to No. 20 and Michigan State (7-2) advancing from No. 24 to No. 12 following its victory over Penn State, which dropped to 14th.
The highest-ranked team not from a major conference is Central Florida at No. 18.
