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College Football Playoff 2020: Winners and losers in new rankings

By John Buhler

College Football Playoff. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
College Football Playoff. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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The third installment of the 2020 College Football Playoff rankings have been revealed.

Despite no changes in the top six, the latest College Football Playoff rankings were still wild.

The College Football Playoff Selection Committee met for the third time this season. While the top six teams have not changed the last few weeks, we did see some major shake-ups in the No. 7 to No. 15-range. These rankings will have major impact on the New Year’s Six, perhaps possibly leaving the door open for a two-loss Big 12 champion to shockingly sneak in there at No. 4.

College Football Playoff rankings

  1. Alabama Crimson Tide
  2. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
  3. Clemson Tigers
  4. Ohio State Buckeyes
  5. Texas A&M Aggies
  6. Florida Gators
  7. Iowa State Cyclones
  8. Cincinnati Bearcats
  9. Georgia Bulldogs
  10. Miami Hurricanes
  11. Oklahoma Sooners
  12. Indiana Hoosiers
  13. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
  14. Northwestern Wildcats
  15. USC Trojans
  16. Iowa Hawkeyes
  17. North Carolina Tar Heels
  18. BYU Cougars
  19. Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns
  20. Texas Longhorns
  21. Colorado Buffaloes
  22. Oklahoma State Cowboys
  23. North Carolina State Wolfpack
  24. Tulsa Golden Hurricane
  25. Missouri Tigers

Winner: Big 12 Championship game (No. 7 Iowa State Cyclones vs. No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners)

The Iowa State Cyclones continue to make their climb, as they are now the top two-loss team in the country. They eked past the Georgia Bulldogs, who dropped a spot to No. 9, as well as usurping the undefeated Cincinnati Bearcats at No. 8. It sounds crazy, but the winner between No. 7 Iowa State and the No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners has an outside shot of making the four-team field.

Loser: Cincinnati Bearcats

Despite not losing a game on the field, Cincinnati has lost a few due to COVID positivities. The Bearcats had their game last week vs. the Temple Owls canceled, as well as their matchup this weekend vs. the No. 24 Tulsa Golden Hurricane. While they will meet Tulsa in the AAC Championship game, the No. 8 Bearcats are not getting in and may not get the Group of 5 bid now.

Winner: Coastal Carolina Chanticleers

The winner of Mormons vs. Mullets ended up winning big in the latest playoff rankings. The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers are 10-0 and are now the No. 13 team in the nation. If they do not drop a game and Cincinnati were to lose somehow to Tulsa, guess who is getting the Group of 5 bid? They would be the first Sun Belt team to ever accomplish that feat. What a season for them!

Loser: Texas A&M Aggies

While staying at No. 5 would be viewed as a good thing for most teams, the Texas A&M Aggies are going to need one heck of a parlay to get in now. They had this weekend’s game vs. the Ole Miss Rebels postponed. At only 7-1 on the year, the Aggies would absolutely need to get to 9-1 to get in. Unfortunately, they may not be able to play both Ole Miss and the Tennessee Volunteers now.

Winner: Ohio State Buckeyes

Despite only playing five games this season, the Ohio State Buckeyes hold onto the No. 4 overall ranking. A team two spots ahead of them in the No. 2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish have played twice as many games as them and have twice as many wins. Regardless, the Selection Committee thinks an undefeated, six-win Big Ten champion Buckeyes team is worthy of getting in. Will they?

Loser: Georgia Bulldogs

While there were not a ton of losers in these latest rankings, the Dawgs fell a spot from No. 8 to No. 9, firmly seen as the fourth-best team in the SEC behind the Alabama Crimson Tide, Texas A&M and Florida. Simply put, the Dawgs have to beat the No. 25 Missouri Tigers and the Vanderbilt Commodores to get to 8-2 to make a New Year’s Six bowl. Nothing less with cut it.

Winner: Colorado Buffaloes

For the first time in years, the Colorado Buffaloes have made the top-25 rankings. While it seems highly unlikely that the Pac-12 will get a team into the four-team field, it just might be the Buffs who represented the Power 5 conference in their New Year’s Six bowl. Again, this may not seem like much, but for a team that just hired its head coach Karl Dorrell in February, it just might be.

So what are the biggest takeaways from the third playoff rankings? The ACC and SEC are getting one or maybe two teams in apiece. The Selection Committee wants to get Ohio State in by any means necessary. And just because we crossed off the Big 12 weeks ago did not mean the Selection Committee did the same. There may be more teams in this thing than we think.

Who are your biggest winners and losers from the third College Football Playoff rankings?

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