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Updated College Football Playoff rankings: Does Alabama get in after TCU loss?

By Cody Williams

Dec 3, 2022; Arlington, TX, USA; TCU Horned Frogs quarterback Max Duggan (15) drops back to pass against the Kansas State Wildcats during the first quarter at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 3, 2022; Arlington, TX, USA; TCU Horned Frogs quarterback Max Duggan (15) drops back to pass against the Kansas State Wildcats during the first quarter at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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The TCU Horned Frogs joined USC as Top 4 teams in the College Football Playoff rankings losing, so what do the updated rankings now look like?

Chaos got an early start as it pertains to the College Football Playoff rankings with the USC Trojans losing for the second time this season to Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game. But while Ohio State fans were celebrating, Alabama fans were waiting for the noon slate on Saturday to see if the TCU Horned Frogs would give them more Playoff life as well.

Despite the best efforts of quarterback Max Duggan, the Horned Frogs left the door open.

Trailing 28-20 in the final minutes of the fourth quarter of the Big 12 Championship Game against Kansas State, Duggan almost singlehandedly kept TCU alive with several long runs and massive playmaking as he drove his team down to score and then converted the two-point conversion to force overtime.

In the extra frame, however, the Horned Frogs got stopped at the 1-yard line and made questionable play calls to take the ball out of Duggan’s hands, ultimately coming up short and getting stopped. That allowed Kansas State to get the ball and only need a field goal to win, which they did in order to hand their foes their first loss of the year.

But is that enough chaos to push Alabama into the Top 4? Let’s check in our College Football Playoff rankings update to see.

Updated College Football Playoff rankings after TCU falls to Kansas State in Big 12 Championship Game

  1. Georgia Bulldogs
  2. Michigan Wolverines
  3. TCU Horned Frogs
  4. Ohio State Buckeyes
  5. Alabama Crimson Tide
  6. USC Trojans
  7. Tennessee Volunteers
  8. Kansas State Wildcats
  9. Penn State Nittany Lions
  10. Clemson Tigers

At least how I see things, TCU is going to stay at No. 3. For one, they have a better resumé than Ohio State overall by making it to the conference championship game and with a win over Kansas State in the regular season. That also applies to Alabama, who the Frogs also have an overall better case to make the Playoff than.

More importantly, though, the history of the selection committee tells us that they like to avoid rematches from the regular season in the semifinal matchups — even if it would be a Ohio State-Michigan rematch. That’s another reason why the Horned Frogs stay at No. 3, at least before the SEC and Big Ten Championship Games have concluded.

But the end of it is that this isn’t good news for Alabama fans. They needed Kansas State to blow out TCU to have a chance to jump ahead of them. That didn’t happen. And now bumping the Crimson Tide into the Top 4 would be an egregious error on the part of the committee.

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