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CFP rankings: What the committee got right and what they got wrong

By Cody Williams

Oct 30, 2021; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Michigan Wolverines running back Hassan Haskins (25) runs the ball against the Michigan State Spartans during the second quarter at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 30, 2021; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Michigan Wolverines running back Hassan Haskins (25) runs the ball against the Michigan State Spartans during the second quarter at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /
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The third CFP rankings were released on Tuesday night and we’re critiquing what the College Football Playoff committee both got right and got wrong.

On Tuesday, the committee offered up the CFP rankings after Week 11, the third set of College Football Playoff rankings that we’ve seen so far this season. And really, fans weren’t expecting many surprises — and there weren’t truly any.

With Oklahoma, who lost their first game of the year to Baylor on Saturday, being the only top-10-ranked team to fall this past week, there wasn’t expected to be much movement in the rankings.

Indeed, there wasn’t. But let’s still take a look at the CFP rankings released after Week 11 and decipher what the committee got right and, just as importantly, what they got wrong.

CFP rankings Week 11 release: College Football Playoff committee reveals third Top 25

  1. Georgia Bulldogs
  2. Alabama Crimson Tide
  3. Oregon Ducks
  4. Ohio State Buckeyes
  5. Cincinnati Bearcats
  6. Michigan Wolverines
  7. Michigan State Spartans
  8. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
  9. Oklahoma State Cowboys
  10. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
  11. Baylor Bears
  12. Ole Miss Rebels
  13. Oklahoma Sooners
  14. BYU Cougars
  15. Wisconsin Badgers
  16. Texas A&M Aggies
  17. Iowa Hawkeyes
  18. Pittsburgh Panthers
  19. San Diego State Aztecs
  20. NC State Wolfpack
  21. Arkansas Razorbacks
  22. UTSA Roadrunners
  23. Utah Utes
  24. Houston Cougars
  25. Mississippi State Bulldogs

Considering that Oklahoma was the only team in the top 10 that lost this past week, it’s not all that shocking that we haven’t seen much change in terms of the top of the rankings.

With that said, there was plenty of shuffling outside of the top 10, which you can obviously see in the latest rankings.

CFP rankings: What College Football Playoff committee got right

Georgia is definitively No. 1 – Of all the debates that could be had about the rankings, the Dawgs being on top isn’t one of them.

Kirby Smart’s team has continued their dominant reign over college football throughout the season and just submitted another impressive performance, blowing out Tennessee and stifling yet another capable offense. They are clearly the best team in the country and anyone arguing against that is just trying too hard to play contrarian.

Alabama still a deserving No. 2 – As shocking as it was to see Alabama slotted in at No. 2 in the initial rankings, the truth of the matter is that the Crimson Tide have continued to prove that they are deserving of that. There is the blip on the radar with the loss to Texas A&M but Nick Saban’s team has gotten better and you’d be hard-pressed to disagree with the committee that any team outside of Georgia is better than them.

Oregon over Ohio State – There are two sides to this coin. If you think Michigan should be ahead of Michigan State, then you are likely arguing for Ohio State to be ahead of Oregon in the rankings.

But head-to-head matchups simply have to matter — a preview of what the committee got wrong. If they don’t then why would teams bother to play these games, especially in non-conference scheduling? Oregon has the same record as Ohio State but won when the two teams faced off, which is why this is the right order for the rankings.

The Big 12 hierarchy – With Oklahoma losing to Baylor this past week, it’s good to see that the committee isn’t giving anyone too much credit for what they haven’t accomplished. As such, they themselves deserve credit with putting the Big 12 in the order they should be with Oklahoma State ahead of Baylor and the Bears ahead of the Sooners. That’s the way it should be, even if Bedlam and other games offer opportunities for more shuffling.

CFP rankings: What College Football Playoff committee got wrong

Michigan being ahead of Michigan State – There is a legitimate argument to be made that, on the whole, Michigan has looked better by the eye test than their in-state rivals. But as mentioned with Oregon-Ohio State, these two teams played a game and the Spartans came out ahead. That just has to matter, regardless of what the committee says.

Michigan State has every opportunity to prove the committee wrong for this, though, as they face the aformentioned Buckeyes on Saturday.

Cincinnati remains out of the Top 4 – All we’re doing here is confirming the widespread belief that the committee is going to refuse to keep the Group of 5 out of a four-team College Football Playoff. Cincinnati has a win over the No. 8 team in the latest rankings, Notre Dame, and does not have a loss on their ledger. Even if they don’t face the schedule that Power 5 teams do, they’ve taken care of business but it truly does feel like a conspiracy abound just to keep them out.

UTSA still getting no respect – Seriously, the Roadrunners are one of three remaining undefeated teams in the country. The other two, Georgia and Cincinnati, are top-five teams in the rankings. UTSA, meanwhile, can’t crack the top 20.

While understanding that their strength of schedule is severely lacking, it’s absolutely absurd that this team isn’t getting the benefit from the committee of taking care of business week-in and week-out, something that only two other teams, regardless of schedule, have been able to do.

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