College Football Playoff rankings: Alabama's dead and 5 vital takeaways

Every team in the new College Football Playoff rankings is in a different spot than last week, including LSU who moved into the No. 1 spot and bumped Alabama out of the Top 4.

The new College Football Playoff rankings are out and it’s looking likely Alabama will not make the cut for the first time. Here are my takeaways to the second batch of rankings from the playoff committee and what to watch the next few weeks that can threaten to shake-up the playoff picture.

The Big 3: LSU, Ohio State, Clemson

LSU has its highest ranking in the College Football Playoff poll era with its No. 1 ranking after beating Alabama. I think they clinched a spot in the playoff with that win and can afford a loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game and still will be in the Top 4. Of course, they don’t want to lose that game, but the Tigers are in.

Ohio State has a tough remaining schedule with Penn State and a road trip to Michigan to close out the regular season. Provided they get through that unscathed, they’ll potentially meet Minnesota in the Big Ten Championship Game. Ohio State has looked like the most impressive team in the nation but will have to avoid falling at the finish line.

Clemson was at No. 5 last week but the reigning national champions move up to No. 3 after losses from Alabama and Penn State. I wrote last week that despite the No. 5 ranking, the Tigers were the biggest lock to make the playoff because of their remaining schedule and the remaining schedule of the teams ranked in front of them. Clemson is peaking at the right time and won’t face a team in the ACC capable of shocking the college football world to instill some chaos into the rankings.

LSU, Ohio State and Clemson are all going to win out which means the fourth and final spot is down to four legit contenders, Georgia, Alabama, Oregon and Utah.

Alabama’s playoff hopes are dead

After Alabama lost to LSU, I wrote the obituary for the Crimson Tide. Nick Saban wasn’t going to find a way to sneak in the back door this time despite not winning the SEC, let alone the SEC West. Alabama had to beat LSU because they have zero wins against ranked teams. They’ll only have Auburn remaining to give them a resume boost. And that may not be that significant of a boost if Georgia beats them in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry on Saturday.

Then, I got a little hesitant and remembered the Alabama brand is strong and the excuse of “only losing by five to the No. 1 team with a banged-up Tua” shouldn’t drop them that much. I began to second-guess myself and thought maybe Alabama moved down to No. 4 for at least this week before getting passed on the final weekend. But that didn’t happen. The playoff committee dropped Alabama to No. 5 and needs to get really lucky with Utah, Oregon, Georgia, Minnesota and Baylor all losing. In other words, Alabama will not be in the playoff for the first time.

Pac-12 hopefuls: Oregon, Utah

Utah and Oregon were both left for dead in September but are very much alive and will need each other to keep winning to set up the best possible Pac-12 Championship Game. Neither can afford a loss to weaken the resume for whoever ends up winning the conference. The only way the conference gets in is if it’s a one-loss team, and it would behoove Oregon to be the winner. The Ducks’ lone loss was to Auburn in the opener vs. USC for the Utes.

The “other” undefeated teams: Minnesota, Baylor

Minnesota moved up from No. 17 to No. 8 with their win over Penn State. This represents the largest jump into the Top 10 in the history of the playoff. This is great and the Gophers should be happy they finally got some respect. But being No. 4 is still four spots behind the Top 4 and being No. 8 on Nov. 12 doesn’t result in banners being hung or rings being ordered. Standing in front of Minnesota is a road game with Iowa and a home game with Wisconsin. If they get past them, they’ll likely have to see Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game. These hurdles are so high, I don’t think even Edwin Moses in his prime could clear them without taking a spill.

Baylor improved to 9-0 with a triple-overtime win over TCU but fell a spot to No. 12. They are the lowest-ranked 9-0 Power 5 team in the history of the playoff. They face No. 10 Oklahoma with a chance to vault into the Top 10 win at home on Saturday. The playoff committee has made it clear they think Oklahoma is the better team. But all this means, barring Baylor going undefeated, the Big 12 will be left out of the playoff.

Stuck in the middle with Auburn

Auburn is not a contender but they are a spoiler with Georgia and Alabama remaining on their schedule. Rivalry games are always crazy and Gus Malzahn has been lucky enough to win against these rivals in improbable fashion, so there’s a chance they could end Georgia’s playoff hopes this weekend. That would then resuscitate Alabama’s hopes by the Iron Bowl and they can then snuff those out too.

The kicker is Alabama needs Auburn to beat Georgia so they can have the best win possible if they beat them in the Iron Bowl. If Alabama beats a three-loss Auburn, that’s not going to impress any committee members to move them into the Top 4.

What’s really interesting is Auburn’s win over Oregon is what’s keeping the Ducks out of the Top 4 right now and controlling their destiny the rest of the way. The Ducks can win out and still may not make the cut because of that Week 1 loss in the final seconds.

Who’s the top Group of Five team?

The New Year’s Six berth in the Cotton Bowl could be decided on Nov. 29 in Memphis when the Tigers host Cincinnati. It’s the Bearcats who hold the slightest edge now at No. 17 with the Tigers at No. 18. As long as the winner of that game remains a one-loss team, they should hold off No. 21 Boise State, No. 23 Navy and No. 25 Appalachian State. Although, if Navy is able to pull off the upset against No. 16 Notre Dame on Saturday, that could heighten the drama the rest of the season.