College Football Rankings 2014: Week 11 AP and Amway Standings Revealed
For any detractors of the College Football Playoff—they are few and far between, but amazingly, they do exist—the top critique was that the BCS system essentially made every week a playoff game for the top teams in the nation.
Well, just ask schools like Ole Miss, Georgia and Arizona if anything has changed. All three lost this weekend. And all three likely kissed their chance at a playoff goodbye.
The stakes have never been higher in college football, and this week illustrated that perfectly. Below, you'll find both the Associated Press and coaches polls, along with a breakdown of the week's action and a forecast for this week's selection committee rankings.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Associated Press Poll
| 1 | Mississippi State | 8-0 | Mississippi State |
| 2 | Florida State | 8-0 | Florida State |
| 3 | Auburn | 7-1 | Auburn |
| 4 | Alabama | 7-1 | Oregon |
| 5 | Oregon | 8-1 | Alabama |
| 6 | TCU | 7-1 | Michigan State |
| 7 | Michigan State | 7-1 | Notre Dame |
| 8 | Notre Dame | 7-1 | TCU |
| 9 | Kansas State | 7-1 | Kansas State |
| 10 | Baylor | 7-1 | Baylor |
| 11 | Arizona State | 7-1 | Ole Miss |
| 12 | Ole Miss | 7-2 | Arizona State |
| 13 | Ohio State | 7-1 | Ohio State |
| 14 | LSU | 7-2 | Nebraska |
| 15 | Nebraska | 8-1 | LSU |
| 16 | Oklahoma | 6-2 | Oklahoma |
| 17 | Georgia | 6-2 | Georgia |
| 18 | UCLA | 7-2 | UCLA |
| 19 | Clemson | 6-2 | Clemson |
| 20 | Utah | 6-2 | Duke |
| 21 | Arizona | 6-2 | Utah |
| 22 | Duke | 7-1 | Arizona |
| 23 | Marshall | 8-0 | Marshall |
| 24 | West Virginia | 6-3 | West Virginia |
| 25 | Wisconsin | 6-2 | Colorado State |
Coaches Poll
| 1 | Mississippi State | 8-0 | Mississippi State |
| 2 | Florida State | 8-0 | Florida State |
| 3 | Auburn | 7-1 | Auburn |
| 4 | Alabama | 7-1 | Oregon |
| 5 | Oregon | 8-1 | Alabama |
| 6 | Michigan State | 7-1 | Michigan State |
| 7 | TCU | 7-1 | Notre Dame |
| 8 | Notre Dame | 7-1 | TCU |
| 9 | Kansas State | 7-1 | Kansas State |
| 10 | Baylor | 7-1 | Baylor |
| 11 | Ohio State | 7-1 | Ole Miss |
| 12 | Arizona State | 7-1 | Arizona State |
| 13 | Ole Miss | 7-2 | Ohio State |
| 14 | Nebraska | 8-1 | Nebraska |
| 15 | LSU Tigers | 7-2 | LSU |
| 16 | Oklahoma | 6-2 | Oklahoma |
| 17 | Georgia | 6-2 | Georgia |
| 18 | UCLA | 7-2 | UCLA |
| 19 | Clemson | 6-2 | Clemson |
| 20 | Duke | 7-1 | Duke |
| 21 | Arizona | 6-2 | Utah |
| 22 | Utah | 6-2 | Arizona |
| 23 | Marshall | 8-0 | Marshall |
| 24 | Wisconsin | 6-2 | West Virginia |
| 25 | West Virginia | 6-3 | Colorado State |
Analysis
At this point, there doesn't seem to be a ton of questions over which three teams deserve to be atop the rankings. Undefeated Mississippi State and Florida State are no-brainer selections for the first two spots, while Auburn's impressive win at Ole Miss—coupled with wins over Kansas State and LSU and a lone loss to Mississippi State—has provided it an impressive resume at No. 3.
Poor Ole Miss. On one play, it saw a go-ahead touchdown with less than two minutes remaining turned into a turnover and a broken leg to key offensive player Laquon Treadwell. And with that, its chances at reaching this year's playoff were almost certainly extinguished.
Devastating.
That will leave the selection committee with a big decision to make at the No. 4 spot. While the AP and coaches made their choice, which way will the committee turn?
Oregon certainly made a strong case after demolishing Stanford.
Heather Dinich of ESPN thinks Oregon is the only choice at No. 4 for the committee:
"The Ducks didn’t just snap their two-game losing streak to the Cardinal, they did it in convincing fashion and reasserted themselves as the team to beat in the Pac-12. Oregon broke Stanford's Football Bowl Subdivision-best streak of 31 straight games allowing fewer than 30 points. That was double the number any other school in the country had.
"
Oregon beat Stanford with style, sustaining drives against the Cardinal’s stingy defense. The Ducks’ defense also made its case, helping put together a complete performance when they needed it most.
More than a few folks in the country might disagree with Oregon's case as the obvious No. 4 team.
Alabama didn't play, but its ranking this week seems a bit irrelevant anyway, since in the next two weeks, it faces LSU and Mississippi State, a pair of games that will have huge ramifications in college football. That isn't the only huge game coming up for a No. 4 contender.
Notre Dame facing Arizona State next weekend will eliminate one of those teams from playoff contention. Michigan State vs. Ohio State is essentially a play-in game to reach the Big Ten championship. And TCU and Kansas State will battle it out, with the loser all but being eliminated from playoff contention and possibly a Big-12 title too.
Talk about a brilliant weekend of football. Of course, every weekend is a huge weekend at this point.
"This was a playoff game," Auburn linebacker Kris Frost told The Associated Press, via ESPN, after Auburn survived Ole Miss. "But from here on in, every game is a playoff game. They just get bigger and bigger.''
Indeed they do, Kris. Indeed they do.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
