College Football Playoff rankings 2022: Projected Week 14 Top 25 after Michigan dominates Ohio State, LSU and Clemson lay eggs

Projected College Football Playoff rankings after Week 13: No. 15-11

15. Florida State Seminoles

If not for some midseason injuries, you have to wonder how high Florida State could’ve climbed this season. Jordan Travis has been one of the best players in the country in November and he put that on display again on Friday night to carry the Seminoles past Florida in their rivalry matchup, 45-38. They’ll finish the regular season at 9-3 but hopes and vibes should be high moving forward under Mike Norvell, especially with Travis likely returning next year.

14. Clemson Tigers

With where Clemson came in at No. 8 last week, the Tigers needed style points in the Palmetto Bowl against South Carolina and in the ACC Championship Game to have a chance at making the Playoff. Instead, they eliminated themselves thoroughly by blowing an early lead and losing the Gamecocks. Every problem we’ve seen on both sides of the ball resurfaced, but none more troubling than a truly awful showing from DJ Uiagalelei.

13. Utah Utes

With Oregon losing to Oregon State while Utah was playing Colorado, all the Utes needed was to beat the lowly Buffaloes to stay alive for a chance to face USC for the Pac-12 title. As expected, they made light work of Colorado as they hung 63 points on the Buffs, including jumping out to a 42-0 lead in the first half. It was an absolute drubbing and one that ultimately punches their ticket to the conference title game for another matchup against USC.

12. Oregon Ducks

Crazy things happen in Corvallis and we saw every bit of that on Saturday afternoon. Bo Nix and Oregon jumped out to a big lead only to then forget how to move the ball consistently, thus allowing Oregon State to climb back into it. And once the momentum shifted, the Ducks couldn’t relocate their mojo and ended up blowing the lead to take a 38-34 loss. They don’t drop too far, though, as the Beavers might just be a damn good football team.

11. Washington Huskies

Washington was the last ranked team to play on Saturday and, though the Huskies were eliminated from contention to play in the Pac-12 Championship Game after Utah’s win over Colorado, there were still the stakes of the ever-important Apple Cup. It was a back-and-forth, frenetic first half, but Michael Penix Jr. delivered another star performance in the second half to pull away for the emphatic win, getting revenge for last season’s loss to Wazzu and finishing the year at an impressive 10-2.