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. 4-3

4. USC Trojans

Even after USC did everything in its power to prove itself by outlasting rival UCLA last week in a shootout, there was still a plethora of doubters who thought that the Trojans were still a paper tiger that would be in danger against Notre Dame on Saturday night in another rivalry matchup for Lincoln Riley’s team. The one thing that people forget is that USC has Caleb Williams on its side and other teams don’t, which is enough of an advantage for them in most games.

All but securing the Heisman Trophy for himself in the process, Williams danced his way around the Fighting Irish defense all night and kept finding the end zone, be it with his legs or his arm. Moreover, the defense stepped up to slow down a suspect Notre Dame offense and the Trojans simply controlled the game from start to finish, even if it wasn’t a blowout victory. And with some help from other contenders entering the week, USC is now firmly in the driver’s seat to earn its spot in the CFP.

3. TCU Horned Frogs

After seeing Sonny Dykes’ team involved in so many close games that TCU needed to come from behind to win in order to stay perfect and stay in the CFP race, it was honestly a little jarring to see the Horned Frogs go out and thoroughly dismantle Iowa State on Saturday. But there was not a single facet of the game in which the Big 12 Championship Game-bound Horned Frogs didn’t dominate to finish the regular season at 12-0.

Max Duggan rested in the late stages of the game but not before tossing three touchdowns on the day. Kendre Miller had 72 yards on 15 carries with two touchdowns. And the TCU defense made its mark with two pick-sixes off of the Cyclones offense. It was an exclamation mark during a day filled with chaos to affirm that the Horned Frogs deserve their Playoff spot and, in fact, may have locked it up with this win.