College Football Playoff Rankings, Week 12: 3 takeaways
By John Buhler
2. If you lost last week, you’re not in the conversation, Georgia and Notre Dame.
This was not a fun week for the Golden Domers or Dawg Nation, as both No. 1 Georgia and No. 3 Notre Dame fell not just out of the top four, but out of the top six. Georgia dropped six spots to No. 7, while Notre Dame sank five spots to No. 8.
While Georgia is still one of roughly eight teams that can win the national title, Notre Dame is no longer in the championship conversation with two losses. Losses to Georgia and Miami aren’t shameful, but that signature win over USC isn’t as spectacular as it was a few weeks ago. There’s virtually no way the Pac-12 gets a team in this year.
As for the Dawgs … well, they need to win out. That means handling the Kentucky Wildcats and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to end the regular season, as well as beat the winner of the Iron Bowl between No. 1 Alabama and No. 6 Auburn in the SEC Championship. This is not out of the realm of possibility, but a one-loss SEC Champion Georgia team would be at best a No. 2, probably No. 3.
Of course, the Selection Committee had to punish Georgia and Notre Dame for losing that badly. Could you really blame them? That being said, it does set a strange precedent in these rankings. Blowout losses are equally bad, home or away. You have to believe that Georgia and Notre Dame would not have looked this bad at home or on a neutral site. Something to think about, for sure.