After Week 13, there was little movement at the top of the College Football Playoff rankings.
The top four teams remained the same, with Notre Dame moving up one spot to No. 5. The Fighting Irish rank behind Oregon, Ohio State, Texas and Penn State.
Miami ranks No. 6, ahead of Georgia, Tennessee, SMU and Indiana. The Volunteers and Hoosiers were big beneficiaries of the losses to Alabama, Ole Miss and Texas A&M in Week 13. If Tennessee and Indiana win on Saturday, they will almost certainly be in the 12-team playoffs.
Goodbye to the first round
No. 1 Oregon
No. 2Texas
No. 3Miami
No. 4 Boise State
The teams that had byes after week 12 are the same four teams that had byes after week 13 in the twelve-team bracket. Remember, the top four conference champions get first-round byes in the playoffs.
First round games
No. 12 State Arizona and No. 5 State Ohio
No. 11 Indiana at No. 6 Penn State
No. 10 SMU at No. 7 Notre Dame
No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Georgia
While it is possible that the current projected top four will be the four teams that receive byes in the playoffs, this current projection of first-round games is not representative of what we will see in the final rankings.
SMU will play either Clemson or Miami for the ACC title. If the Mustangs win the ACC title, they will likely be one of the top four. If they lose, they could drop out of the big group completely. Georgia is in a similar situation. The Bulldogs are among the top four with a win over Texas or Texas A&M in the SEC title game. If they lose that game, we suspect the Bulldogs will be in the playoffs but may not host a first-round game.
Ohio State also has a chance to jump into the top four with a win over Michigan in Week 14 and a win over Oregon in the Big Ten title game. If the Buckeyes do that, they’ll probably be No. 1.
The top two teams left out this week are Clemson and Alabama, the top-ranked team with three losses. The Tigers are a fascinating test case. If Miami beats Syracuse, Clemson won’t be playing for the ACC title. But a win over a South Carolina team ranked No. 15 will go a long way to the Tigers’ chances of a spot ahead of the loser of the ACC title game or another team.
What about Tulane?
The biggest takeaway from Tuesday night’s rankings is that the committee placed the four teams in a tie for first place in the Big 12 behind Tulane.
Arizona State is the highest ranking Big 12 team at No. 16. The Green Wave are one spot behind the Sun Devils and ahead of Iowa State at No. 18 and BYU at No. 19. Colorado is at No. 25. The Buffaloes are one more loss than the other three teams it is affiliated with.
ASU wins every four-way tie at 7-2 in the conference. The Sun Devils will play in the Big 12 title game on Saturday with a win over Arizona. Iowa State would be the second team in the conference title game with a four-way tie with its win over Kansas State. The No. 23 Wildcats defeated Tulane in New Orleans in September.
The Green Wave have been fantastic in AAC play and will play Army for the conference title on December 6. If they blow out Memphis on Thursday night and also win convincingly against Army — a team that was ranked last week before Notre Dame defeated the Black Knights — Tulane has a case to move up from a two-loss Big 12 champion.
If that were to happen, the Big 12 could be left out of the playoffs entirely if Boise State wins the Mountain West and finishes the season at 12-1. We’re not sure the committee would ultimately put an 11-2 Tulane team ahead of an 11-2 Big 12 champion, but it’s a scenario worth watching given Tuesday night’s rankings.
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 (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. Ole Miss (8-3)
15. South Carolina (8-3)
16. Arizona State (9-2)
17. Tulane (9-2)
18. Iowa State (9-2)
19. BYU (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)
