The top five teams remained unchanged while Texas Tech leapt up two spots to No. 6 in the second version of this year’s College Football Playoff rankings, which were announced Tuesday night.
The three remaining FBS unbeaten teams are at the top of the rankings, with defending champion Ohio State No. 1 followed by No. 2 Indiana and No. 3 Texas A&M. Alabama and Georgia round out the top five.
The Red Raiders climbed over Ole Miss and BYU after soundly beating the latter 29-7 in what was a top-10 matchup Saturday. The Cougars fell five spots to No. 12, also being surpassed by Ole Miss, Oregon, Notre Dame, Texas and Oklahoma, which round out the top 11.
Virginia and Louisville each fell five spots as well from No. 14 and 15 to No. 19 and 20. The Cavaliers lost starting quarterback Chandler Morris to injury and fell 16-9 at home to Wake Forest while the Cardinals dropped a 29-26 overtime decision at home to Cal.
Miami and Michigan were the biggest risers, each jumping three spots. The Hurricanes leapt to No. 15., becoming the highest-ranked Atlantic Coast Conference team — one spot ahead of Georgia Tech — after their 38-10 beatdown of Syracuse. The Wolverines improved to No. 18 despite being on bye because of losses by teams ahead of them.
Washington and Missouri fell out of this week’s rankings after losing Saturday to Wisconsin and Texas A&M, respectively. They were replaced by South Florida at No. 24 and Cincinnati in the 25th and final spot.
After there was no team from outside the Power Four conferences in the first rankings last week, South Florida from the American Conference has entered this week. They would be the Group of 6 team representative if the CFP field was being announced today thanks to Memphis’ 38-32 loss to Tulane last Friday.
Unlike last year, the top four teams in the rankings get the top four seeds regardless of conference, rather than the four best conference champs receiving first-round byes. That led to a pair of Big Ten teams and a pair of SEC teams slotted in at Nos. 1-4. Seeds 5-8 get to host first-round games at campus sites.
The final CFP rankings will be released on Sunday, Dec. 7, after all of the conference championship games have taken place.
CFP initial bracket
First-round games:
–No. 12 South Florida at No. 5 Georgia
–No. 11 Miami at No. 6 Texas Tech
–No. 10 Texas at No. 7 Ole Miss
–No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 8 Oregon
First-round byes: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Indiana, No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 4 Alabama
CFP Top 25
1. Ohio State (9-0)
2. Indiana (10-0)
3. Texas A&M (9-0)
4. Alabama (8-1)
5. Georgia (8-1)
6. Texas Tech (9-1)
7. Ole Miss (9-1)
8. Oregon (8-1)
9. Notre Dame (7-2)
10. Texas (7-2)
11. Oklahoma (7-2)
12. BYU (8-1)
13. Utah (7-2)
14. Vanderbilt (8-2)
15. Miami (7-2)
16. Georgia Tech (8-1)
17. Southern California (7-2)
18. Michigan (7-2)
19. Virginia (8-2)
20. Louisville (7-2)
21. Iowa (6-3)
22. Pitt (7-2)
23. Tennessee (6-3)
24. South Florida (7-2)
25. Cincinnati (7-2)
–Field Level Media
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