College Football Playoff rankings, Week 13: 3 takeaways

The College Football Playoff Selection Committee has spoken heading into rivalry week. Here are the three biggest takeaways from Week 13’s rankings.

As we are about to enter rivalry week in college football, the College Football Playoff Selection Committee revealed its latest top 25 on Tuesday night. While there a few interesting shakeups in spots No. 11 to No. 25, only one major move was made inside of the top-10.

The Miami Hurricanes (10-0) swapped places with the Clemson Tigers (10-1) inside of the top-four. Remaining at No. 1 is the Alabama Crimson Tide (11-0). Miami is now No. 2 and Clemson falls back a spot to No. 3. The Oklahoma Sooners (10-1) would be the last team in at No. 4.

Your first two teams out this week would be the No. 5 Wisconsin Badgers (11-0) and the No. 6 Auburn Tigers (9-2). Rounding out the top-10 are the No. 7 Georgia Bulldogs (10-1), the No. 8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-2), the No. 9 Ohio State Buckeyes (9-2) and the No. 10 Penn State Nittany Lions (9-2).

Here are the three biggest takeaways from the latest revealing of the College Football Playoff rankings entering Week 13.

Ohio State has blowout Michigan and Wisconsin to have a shot

While some might argue that Pac-12 teams like the No. 10 USC Trojans (9-2) and the No. 13 Washington State Cougars (9-2) could might maybe have a chance at getting in, the lowest ranked team that has a semi-realistic shot of getting in might be Ohio State.

To be fair, the Buckeyes would be getting in primarily on three things: past reputation, a football team that could, in theory, compete with anybody, but above all, a big television number. Since Notre Dame is out of it, the Buckeyes would be the biggest draw out of the Midwest by far should they qualify.

So how do the Buckeyes get in? They have to beat the brakes off the rival Michigan Wolverines in The Game on Saturday. After dismantling an unranked Michigan team, Urban Meyer’s boys will have to do the same to an undefeated Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis.

Two blowout wins of a major rival in a major game plus a dismantling of an unscathed Badgers team might make the Selection Committee forget about a terrible loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes. However, the Buckeyes need teams ahead of them like Auburn, Georgia and Notre Dame to all lose one more game. So you’re telling me there’s a chance? Maybe one in a million, but it’s there and it’s not much.