College Football Playoff Rankings 2018: Experts React to Week 13 Top 25 Poll
November 21, 2018
It was the status quo once again atop the updated College Football Playoff rankings.
That could all change this weekend during rivalry week, but for now, here's an updated look at the full top-25 rankings:
1. Alamaba (1)
2. Clemson (2)
3. Notre Dame (3)
4. Michigan (4)
5. Georgia (5)
6. Oklahoma (6)
7. LSU (7)
8. Washington State (8)
9. UCF (11)
10. Ohio State (10)
11. Florida (13)
12. Penn State (14)
13. West Virginia (9)
14. Texas (15)
15. Kentucky (17)
16. Washington (18)
17. Utah (19)
18. Mississippi State (21)
19. Northwestern (22)
20. Syracuse (12)
21. Utah State (23)
22. Texas A&M (NR)
23. Boise State (25)
24. Pittsburgh (NR)
25. Iowa State (16)
As has become a weekly tradition, the decision to leave a two-loss LSU team at No. 7 once again drew the ire of fans and experts alike.
George Schroeder @GeorgeSchroederLet’s debate Georgia, Oklahoma, Washington State, UCF and Ohio State. Order ‘em how you like. Talk complete teams and bad defenses and great offenses and SOS. All good. But the continuing love for 2-loss LSU is the most astonishing thing about this selection committee.
The first movement in the rankings came at No. 9, with West Virginia falling four spots after a costly 45-41 loss to unranked Oklahoma State. That effectively dashed any remaining playoff hopes for the now two-loss Mountaineers, who will take on No. 6 Oklahoma this weekend looking to play spoiler.
That opened the door for undefeated UCF to climb into the top 10, making G5 history in the process:
The Knights beat a good Cincinnati team that checked in at No. 24 in last week's rankings handily with a 38-13 victory at home. The biggest news was the committee's decision to leapfrog them over Ohio State, who stayed put at No. 10.
The Buckeyes survived a scare on Saturday, escaping with a 52-51 victory in overtime against a 5-6 Maryland team, so the move wasn't a complete shock.
A dominant 36-3 victory by Notre Dame over Syracuse on Saturday caused another big slide in the rankings, as the Orange fell eight spots to No. 20 with their third loss of the year.
With Boston College (20) and Cincinnati (24) dropping from the rankings following losses, there were two newcomers this week in Texas A&M (22) and Pittsburgh (24).
The committee's decision to move Pittsburgh into the rankings looks good for the aforementioned UCF squad. Might that be a conscious move by the committee?
While the four teams slotted in playoff spots remained unchanged once again, that could shift with some huge matchups on tap for this weekend.
Here's a look at some of the notable matchups:
Ohio State could conceivably jump into the playoff picture with a win over Michigan, while Auburn and West Virginia can both play spoiler. An Auburn win over Alabama would raise the stakes even higher for the Crimson Tide's matchup with No. 5 Georgia in two weeks.
So while the rankings have remained largely stagnant in recent weeks, it could be a whole new ballgame next Tuesday.
Stay tuned.