The fifth and penultimate edition of the College Football Playoff rankings were released Tuesday night, with some changes to the top four. With a straight win last Saturday in The Game, Michigan took over second place from Ohio State, while Washington moved up to No. 3 and Florida State returned to the top four.
With Georgia maintaining its stranglehold on first place, the four remaining undefeated Power Five programs are currently slated to compete in the CFP should they win their respective conference championship games this weekend.
The Buckeyes didn’t fall far behind as they now sit at No. 6; However, Ohio State has no opportunity to play its way into the playoffs while its surrounding teams – No. 5 Oregon, No. 7 Texas and No. 8 Alabama – all face off in league title games this weekend. No program outside of this top eight has a chance of making the playoffs.
Unlike 2021, when Cincinnati started at No. 6 in the CFP rankings and eventually became the first Group of Five team to reach the playoffs, as of Tuesday, Tulane is the top-ranked Group of Five program at No. 22, while Liberty is the the only other such team is at No. 24. That won’t create a scenario in which the Green Wave or Flames can advance to the playoffs, but in an expanded 12-team field slated to be introduced in 2024, Tulane would be in the pole position to earn a bid as the top-ranked potential Group of Five champion.
Let’s take a look at the entire top 25 CFP rankings. Check out bowling expert Jerry Palm’s analysis below.
College Football Playoff Rankings, Nov. 28
Analysis from bowl expert Jerry Palm
The most uneventful season in the CFP era — at least at the top of college football — has finally seen a change in the top eight. It happened because two of last week’s top eight were playing against each other. Michigan beat Ohio State and the CFP selection committee dropped the Buckeyes to No. 6.
We have two more matchups of the top eight teams in conference championship games this weekend, so something has to give.
Don’t worry too much about where the teams are right now. The CFP rankings are not a survey. There are no conference champions yet and the committee prefers conference champions in the playoffs. However, it shouldn’t just be a tournament of champions. This is more of a tiebreaker per se.
Another factor that is important to the committee is direct results, especially for teams that have only suffered one defeat. We’ve seen Texas ahead of Alabama all season, thanks in part to the Longhorns’ win in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It is also the best win by a team this season and will remain that way on Sunday. The committee has consistently tracked the relative rankings of these teams throughout the season. If that happens, an Alabama win against Georgia probably won’t change that.
Also note that the committee at this event is not concerned with the history of these programs or their conferences. Your job is to evaluate these teams based on their performances this season. That’s it.
The fans care about Georgia’s 29-game winning streak and back-to-back championships, but the committee doesn’t. The Committee has neither the desire nor the lack of desire to field a team from the SEC simply because the SEC is always represented.
The only sure thing about the CFP this season is that the Pac-12 champion gets in. I can’t imagine a scenario where the winner of this game is eliminated.