College Football Playoff Rankings 2020: Experts React to Week 14 Top 25 Poll

The second College Football Playoff rankings are here, and while there wasn't a lot of movement at the top of the list, a handful of teams made some key moves further down to help the postseason picture take shape. 

The initial rankings came out in Week 13, headed by, no surprise, Alabama with a 7-0 record. After improving to 8-0, the Crimson Tide are still on top. 

The top seven teams in the rankings remained unchanged from last week: Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Florida and Cincinnati.

However, a new team moved into the Top 10, which caused another team to drop out of the rankings altogether. 

Let's take a look at where the NCAA's top 25 teams stand now ahead of the semifinals on Jan. 1 at the Rose Bowl Game and the Allstate Sugar Bowl. The College Football Playoff National Championship is set for Jan. 11 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

Full Rankings

1. Alabama (8-0)

2. Notre Dame (9-0)

3. Clemson (8-1)

4. Ohio State (4-0)

5. Texas A&M (6-1)

6. Florida (7-1)

7. Cincinnati (8-0)

8. Georgia (6-2)

9. Iowa State (7-2)

10. Miami (7-1)

11. Oklahoma (6-2)

12. Indiana (5-1)

13. BYU (9-0)

14. Northwestern (5-1)

15. Oklahoma State (6-2)

16. Wisconsin (2-1)

17. North Carolina (6-3)

18. Coastal Carolina (9-0)

19. Iowa (4-2)

20. USC (3-0)

21. Marshall (7-0)

22. Washington (3-0)

23. Oregon (3-1)

24. Tulsa (5-1)

25. Louisiana-Lafayette (8-1)

After dominant wins, Alabama and Clemson retain their hold on the Nos. 1 and 2 spots.

And even though their game last week against Illinois was canceled due to COVID-19, Ohio State retained its crucial No. 4 spot, which The Athletic's Ari Wasserman said was a "clear message" from the committee:

One of the biggest movers and shakers in Week 15 was Iowa State, which rocketed up four spots to No. 9 after defeating Texas. The Longhorns dropped out of the Top 25 from No. 17. Following its win over South Carolina, Georgia moved up from No. 9 to No. 8. 

Oklahoma State was another prolific riser, bumping up eight spots from its initial ranking to land at No. 15 after beating Texas Tech at home.

However, Stadium's Brett McMurphy cautioned against getting too attached to the current rankings:

This time of year, you always expect to see *checks notes* powerhouse Coastal Carolina in the Top 25. As The Athletic's Stewart Mandel pointed out, the Sun Belt team has a higher ranking (No. 18) than any Pac-12 team:

Indeed, there was carnage within the Pac-12 last week as defending champion Oregon lost to rival Oregon State, which caused the Ducks to fall eight spots all the way to No. 23. 

But Washington put itself on the map with its comeback win against Utah, improving to 3-0 and earning its ranking of No. 22 for its first appearance on the list. USC leads all Pac-12 teams with its No. 20 ranking.

Wasserman thinks those two Pac-12 teams deserve more recognition:

Beating Nebraska at home allowed Iowa to improve five spots to No. 19. 

Northwestern, however, made a big move in the wrong direction, falling out of the Top 10 to land at No. 14 after being defeated by Michigan State for its first loss of the year. 

The next round of CFP rankings will be released next Tuesday, once again at 7 p.m. ET.