CFP rankings: What the committee got right, what they got wrong in penultimate Top 25
The penultimate CFP rankings were released on Tuesday night and we’re dissecting the new Top 25 to see where the committee was right and wrong.
Nothing about this season or any iteration of the CFP rankings has been ho-hum this season. Every week, we’ve seen big shake-ups in the College Football Playoff picture and this past week was no exception, though that could’ve been expected during rivalry week.
With Michigan upending Ohio State, previously ranked No. 2, and Oklahoma State picking up a monster win over Oklahoma in Bedlam, we knew that things were going to get moved around in the committee’s latest iteration of the Top 25. The big question was how things would be moving.
We got our answer on Tuesday night with the new Top 25 CFP ranking, the next-to-last of the season heading into the conference championships. Let’s take a look at the rankings before breaking down our thoughts on how the committee did.
CFP rankings Week 12 release: College Football Playoff committee reveals penultimate Top 25
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Michigan Wolverines
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Cincinnati Bearcats
- Oklahoma State Cowboys
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Baylor Bears
- Oregon Ducks
- Michigan State Spartans
- BYU Cougars
- Iowa Hawkeyes
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Pittsburgh Panthers
- Wake Forest Demon Deacons
- Utah Utes
- NC State Wolfpack
- San Diego State Aztecs
- Clemson Tigers
- Houston Cougars
- Arkansas Razorbacks
- Kentucky Wildcats
- Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns
- Texas A&M Aggies
Michigan making the big jump up to No. 2 was something that many believed was deserved and ultimately happened.
Outside of that, the other big moves were Ohio State moving down to No. 7 after the loss to Michigan, Oklahoma State jumping up to No. 5 after Bedlam, and Baylor a bit shockingly moving down to No. 9 with Ole Miss moving up ahead of them.
With that, though, let’s take a look at what the committee got right and wrong.
CFP rankings: What College Football Playoff committee got right in penultimate Top 25
Michigan at No. 2 – It felt like every iteration of the rankings to this point had the looming question over Michigan of how they matched up with Ohio State. But with the Wolverines welcoming the rival Buckeyes to Ann Arbor and thoroughly dominating them, they proved that they deserved to be in the spot previously occupied by OSU. They have looked better overall than Alabama, than Cincinnati and so on, and it’s always refreshing to see them get that respect from the committee.
Ohio State not being penalized too harshly – Piggybacking off of Michigan, it should be said that Ohio State shouldn’t have been dropped too terribly far in the rankings. When you look at the back half of the top 10 of the latest rankings, none of the two-loss teams have the quality of loss that the Buckeyes do, nor do they have some of the impressive wins that Ryan Day’s team put together. While being at No. 7 almost surely knocks them out of the playoff race, the fact that the committee didn’t overly penalize them is a positive sign.
Oklahoma State well in play at No. 5 – Oklahoma State is now in a catbird seat with their path to the playoff. If they win the Big 12 Championship Game in a rematch against Baylor and Alabama loses (the most likely loss of any team in the top four), then the Cowboys are in. Heck, the committee might even try to justify putting them in over Cincinnati if they win.
I’d push back on the Bearcats part of the equation but, on the whole, Oklahoma State has earned their spot in the rankings. They’ve taken care of virtually every big test on the schedule, even with the slip-up against Iowa State, and survived to get to this point. There were questions about if they’d jump Notre Dame and it’s a positive that’s the way the rankings shook out.
Georgia Bulldogs remain miles ahead of the competition – We’re probably beating a dead horse at this point but it bares repeating that Georgia has been head-and-shoulders above the rest of college football from start to finish this season. It’s good to see that there has never been any inkling of drama about the Dawgs’ spot in the CFP rankings. They have proven they’re No. 1 time and again and we see it once more heading into the SEC Championship Game.
CFP rankings: What College Football Playoff committee got wrong in penultimate Top 25
Alabama still being at No. 3 – Understanding that Cincinnati hasn’t been impressive in some of their AAC wins to this point, it’s getting more difficult to justify the committee’s infatuation with Alabama.
Sure, they’re the Crimson Tide with just one loss on the season. However, they have struggled mightily now against two 6-6 teams (Auburn and Florida) and even got a scare from LSU as well. This hasn’t been impressive from Nick Saban’s team to this point and, other than the fact that they’re Alabama, how they have the No. 3 spot in the rankings is becoming more questionable with each passing week.
Notre Dame still in play as a dark horse at No. 6 – While the notion of a team competing in the College Football Playoff with an interim head coach is certainly fascinating, the fact of the matter is that Notre Dame’s résumé is not on par with any of the teams that they’re ranked ahead of.
The Fighting Irish don’t have a win against any team ranked inside this Top 25 and their loss came to a Cincinnati team that the committee continues to seemingly doubt given that they’re undefeated and sitting where they are. It absolutely feels as if they’re living off of their prestigious name. Ohio State, even after their loss to Michigan, is more deserving of No. 6 than the Irish based on what they’ve accomplished this season.
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