College Football Playoff Rankings 2023: Week 14 Poll Announced by Committee

The season of no major upsets continued.

But just barely.

While Saturday's biggest result was Michigan's victory over archrival Ohio State, Alabama barely escaped the Iron Bowl with a win over Auburn thanks to a miracle touchdown pass from Jalen Milroe to Isaiah Bond on 4th-and-goal from the 31-yard line in the final minute.

Washington needed a field goal as time expired to defeat Washington State, and Florida State overcame a double-digit deficit with backup quarterback Tate Rodemaker to beat Florida.

Even Georgia had a closer-than-expected battle before prevailing 31-23 against Georgia Tech.

Which means they are all very much still alive in a College Football Playoff race that hasn't changed much during the final month of the season with the lone exception of the Buckeyes dropping thanks to Saturday's loss.

Here is a look at the penultimate rankings, which were released Tuesday:

1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Washington
4. Florida State
5. Oregon
6. Ohio State
7. Texas
8. Alabama
9. Missouri
10. Penn State
11. Ole Miss
12. Oklahoma
13. LSU
14. Louisville
15. Arizona
16. Iowa
17. Notre Dame
18. Oklahoma State
19. NC State
20. Oregon State
21. Tennessee
22. Tulane
23. Clemson
24. Liberty
25. Kansas State

With conference championship games now the only thing standing in the way of the four-team field, the question is how difficult of a job the selection committee will have when it comes to choosing the final ranking.

The most straightforward scenario is the four Power Five undefeated teams remain undefeated with Georgia defeating Alabama, Michigan beating Iowa, Washington winning against Oregon for the second time and Florida State handling Louisville.

Those teams would almost assuredly make up the CFP if that happens even with some lingering questions about the Seminoles' overall ceiling with star quarterback Jordan Travis sidelined by injury.

And the way this season has unfolded with little drama in the form of monumental upsets, that very well may be what happens.

But things could get much trickier depending on the outcome of the conference title games. There is even a scenario where the SEC could get left out altogether if Alabama defeats Georgia and the other undefeated Power Five teams all win.

If that happened, Michigan, Washington and Florida State would be in the field, and the debate for the final seed would likely come down to one-loss Alabama as SEC champion and one-loss Texas as the Big 12 champion. While the SEC may be better as a whole than the Big 12, the Longhorns defeated the Crimson Tide in their head-to-head matchup.

That would likely be the most important data point, which would leave the SEC out of the field entirely.

Or perhaps there will finally be some chaos.

The one-loss Buckeyes are certainly cheering for that since they will be watching from home during the conference title games. They would likely need Oklahoma State to defeat Texas and Louisville to beat Florida State, which could open up a back door to sneak into the field alongside Georgia, Michigan and the winner of the game between Washington and Oregon.

Another debate that could develop would happen if the Ducks beat the Huskies in the rematch for the Pac-12 title.

That might leave the committee debating between one-loss Oregon and one-loss Texas for the final spot, which is arguably the most difficult hypothetical they could face. The Longhorns have that victory over Alabama, but the Ducks could point to the win over the Huskies even though they lost the regular-season matchup.

Overall strength of schedules, quality of losses and even performances against the same opponent since Oregon beat Texas Tech by eight and Texas defeated the Red Raiders by 50 could come into play.

The only thing that would be guaranteed is both fanbases would make their opinions felt both before and after the final four-team field is revealed.