College Football Playoff rankings 2022: Projected Week 11 Top 25 after LSU upsets Alabama, Georgia routs Tennessee, Clemson upset

LSU Tigers. Mandatory Credit: USA Today Sports Images/The Daily Advertiser
LSU Tigers. Mandatory Credit: USA Today Sports Images/The Daily Advertiser /
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College Football Playoff rankings, CFP rankings Week 11
LSU Tigers (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

Projected College Football Playoff rankings after Week 10: No. 8-7

8. USC Trojans

We’re going to talk about this later too, but if a one-loss USC Trojans team under Lincoln Riley and the team’s path to the Playoff, the one thing that Caleb Williams and this group need to be doing is racking up style points. And you could make the argument that they are very much doing that on offense as Williams was a stud on Saturday night at home against Cal and the Trojans put up 40+ points for the seventh time in nine games this season.

The defense that everyone called a problem, however, is in fact a problem. USC only won this game against an inferior Golden Bears team by six points as the Trojans defense just didn’t have enough stops in their bag.

Listen, this offense is good enough to outscore virtually any team in the country. But if they want to make sure they have a legitimate shot at the CFP, they have to start improving the margin of victory and the two-way play.

7. LSU Tigers

About a month ago, if you had said that the LSU Tigers would not only be a Top 10 team but that they would end up in the SEC West driver’s seat and would have a legitimate chance to sneak into the College Football Playoff, any fan or analyst who had been paying attention would’ve told you that you were completely out of your mind. But after Brian Kelly’s bold two-point conversion call in overtime sent the Tigers over Alabama in the huge conference showdown, that’s the reality we live in.

Jayden Daniels has fully come into his own as the leader of this offense and perhaps LSU as a whole as he added three touchdowns to the Tigers’ winning effort, including the score ahead of the two-point try, which he completed. But more than that, this defense is starting to show its teeth, particularly with Harold Perkins becoming an edge-rushing force. With a relatively light schedule ahead, the Tigers seem to be bound for the SEC Championship Game now.