College Football Playoff Rankings: Projected top four after Auburn beats Alabama

Here’s how the top four teams will stack up in the College Football Playoff rankings after the No. 6 Auburn Tigers knocked off the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide in the Iron Bowl.

With more football left to be played before the night is over, week 13 has already provided some major changes to the College Football Playoff race that will leave a new-look top four next Tuesday.

In a high-stakes Iron Bowl matchup, No. 6 Auburn dealt top-ranked Alabama its first defeat with a convincing 26-14 victory. Auburn has a great chance to become the first two-loss team to crack the playoff if it beats Georgia again next weekend, while the Crimson Tide could be left out without some serious help.

That means there will be a new team atop the College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday for the first time this season, along with another new squad in the top four due to Miami’s stunning loss to Pittsburgh on Friday. Next week could provide all sorts of nightmare scenarios for the committee, but the top four looks pretty clear-cut for now.

1. Clemson Tigers 

2. Oklahoma Sooners

3. Wisconsin Badgers

4. Auburn Tigers

While Auburn is playing the best football of any team in the country right now with recent wins over Alabama and Georgia, the Tigers won’t rise higher than No. 4 with two losses on the season. Undefeated Wisconsin will finally take its rightful place in the top four after rolling Minnesota 31-, and it would be a shock if it’s jumped by Auburn even with questions about a weak schedule.

There’s a strong argument that Clemson should be lower for losing to a 4-8 team, but the committee has consistently ranked the Tigers as the best one-loss contender over the past few weeks. Oklahoma earned another easy win with a 59-31 victory over West Virginia and will jump both Miami and Alabama to move all the way up to No. 2 on Tuesday.

Of course, Clemson doesn’t exactly have a gimmie against a good South Carolina team tonight, so the projected top four could look different by the end of the evening.