NCAA Football Rankings 2020: Week 11 Polls, Top 25 Standings and Analysis

As expected, there is a new—though not unfamiliar—team atop college football's two major polls. After Clemson, which was missing star quarterback Trevor Lawrence, fell to No. 4 Notre Dame on Saturday, Alabama ascended to the top spot in both the Associated Press Top 25 and Coaches Poll, garnering 59 of 62 first-placed votes in former and 55 of 62 in the latter.

The Fighting Irish, meanwhile, moved up to No. 2 in both polls and leapfrogged 3-0 Ohio State, which dispatched Rutgers 49-27 on Saturday. Clemson fell to No. 4, though the Tigers still control their College Football Playoff destiny and will likely meet Notre Dame again in December's ACC Championship Game.

Elsewhere in the Top 25, there were no upsets, but Florida's domination of then-No. 5 Georgia moved the Gators into Playoff conversation at No. 5 in the Coaches Poll and No. 6 in the AP rankings. The Bulldogs have all but seen their hopes of winning the SEC East disappear, with Florida now having a full one-game lead—plus the head-to-head tiebreaker—over Georgia.

Upstart Group of Five schools Cincinnati and BYU both put together impressive wins in Week 10, but the Bearcats were jumped by Florida and Texas A&M, which dropped them to No. 7 in both polls. The Cougars are right behind them at No. 8. If neither can get into the CFP, only Cincinnati is eligible for an automatic New Year's Six bowl bid because BYU isn't affiliated with a conference.

AP Top 25

1. Alabama (59 first-place votes)
2. Notre Dame (2)
3. Ohio State (1)
4. Clemson
5. Texas A&M
6. Florida
7. Cincinnati
8. BYU
9. Miami
10. Indiana
11. Oregon
12. Georgia
13. Wisconsin
14. Oklahoma State
15. Coastal Carolina
16. Marshall
17. Iowa State
18. Oklahoma
19. SMU
20. USC
21. Texas
22. Liberty
23. Northwestern
24. Auburn
25. Louisiana-Lafayette

Coaches Poll

1. Alabama (55 first-place votes)
2. Notre Dame (4)
3. Ohio State (3)
4. Clemson
5. Florida 
6. Texas A&M
7. Cincinnati 
8. BYU
9. Miami
10. Indiana
11. Georgia
12. Oregon
13. Oklahoma State 
14. Wisconsin
15. Marshall
16. Iowa State
17. Coastal Carolina
18. Oklahoma 
19. SMU
20. USC
21. Auburn
22. Liberty 
23. Northwestern
24. Texas 
25. Army

Analysis

The more things change, the more they stay the same—at least when it comes to the elite teams in college football. As they have been at numerous points over the past few years, Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State are in the middle of the College Football Playoff conversation. Each school controls its destiny too.

Even with Clemson's loss to Notre Dame, the Tigers simply have to win out—a doable task—and beat the Irish in the ACC title game. And for that game, they should have Trevor Lawrence.

For the rest of the top 10, sneaking into the CFP won't be easy. Florida will almost certainly need to win out and then beat Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. Texas A&M already lost to the Crimson Tide—quite handily, to boot—and still has an early-December showdown with No. 24 Auburn on the schedule. The Aggies beat Florida earlier this season, but without a path to the SEC Championship Game, it's hard to see how they could get into the top four.

For the Group of Five schools, it's going to take a lot of luck if either one is going to end up with a berth in the CFP. Neither has played a particularly daunting schedule, in large part because Power Five schools went to conference-only schedules this season.

If BYU wins out, it would likely get an at-large bid to a New Year's Six bowl, and Cincinnati would get the G5's auto bid. But if either slips up, Coastal Carolina, Marshall, and Liberty are all still undefeated. Even then, it seems BYU and Cincinnati are a cut above those teams, and the College Football Playoff selection committee is likely to agree.

Follow Keegan on Twitter, @ByKeeganPope.