It really feels like the heart of fall once the College Football Playoff rankings are being revealed every Tuesday night. And the selection committee revealed its second set of CFP rankings, giving us a new 12-team field with the Texas Tech Red Raiders jumping up with their big win over BYU this past week (which also knocked the Cougars out of the field) and not many other big changes at the top of the bracket. However, even the minor changes have now ramped up the pressure in a major way.
There are still three weeks remaining in college football's regular season, not to mention conference championship weekend. That's going to create drama in itself, but it's going to be more dramatic for some teams than others. When you look at the second CFB Playoff rankings of the season, that starts to become quite clear.
Second College Football Playoff rankings and bracket revealed
Here's a look at how the selection committee ranked the Top 25 teams after Week 11, and with less than a month now remaining in the regular season.
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Indiana Hoosiers
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Texas Tech Red Raiders
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Oregon Ducks
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Texas Longhorns
- Oklahoma Sooners
- BYU Cougars
- Utah Utes
- Vanderbilt Commodores
- Miami Hurricanes
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
- USC Trojans
- Michigan Wolverines
- Virginia Cavaliers
- Louisville Cardinals
- Iowa Hawkeyes
- Pittsburgh Panthers
- Tennessee Volunteers
- South Florida Bulls
- Cincinnati Bearcats
And beyond that, with the top five conference champions and seven at-large teams making it into the College Football Playoff — and with byes being given to the top four teams regardless of their conference championship — here's a look at what the bracket would look like based on these second CFP rankings. Note that numbers represent the seed, and not a team's ranking.
- Byes: 1 Ohio State, 2 Indiana, 3 Texas A&M, 4 Alabama
- 12 South Florida at 5 Georgia
- 11 Miami at 6 Texas Tech
- 10 Texas at 7 Ole Miss
- 9 Notre Dame at 8 Oregon
The biggest thing that we all have to remember, though, is that nothing about the College Football Playoff is settled. There are still three weeks left in the regular season. With that, and with the schedules ahead, these three teams are under an immense amount of pressure if they want to hold the line as a Playoff team.
CFP contenders facing the most pressure in the final three weeks
Oregon Ducks
Oregon has already checked one box, picking up the gritty (albeit ugly) win over Iowa this past week. That clears their path to the College Football Playoff, but only slightly. We saw the selection committee not quite show the Ducks the same respect that AP voters have throughout the season, initially placing them at No. 9. Even with the win over the Hawkeyes, though, Oregon still only moves up to the eighth spot in these latest rankings.
That puts Dan Lanning's team in a precarious position heading into a precarious finish for their schedule. Oregon still has to face off against USC — a team that's quietly lurking at No. 17 in the rankings and could potentially steal the third Big Ten spot in the CFP if they can notch wins over Iowa and the Ducks — and Washington. Let's not forget, despite some of the Huskies' struggles this season, Lanning is 1-3 with this program against the rivals from Seattle, with his first win coming last year.
The Ducks should be favored in every game they play, but the selection committee has sent them a message that they don't necessarily have the margin for error that they'd have hoped. A loss in any of their remaining games could ultimately result in Oregon getting left on the cutting room floor for the Playoff.
Texas Longhorns
After being the first team out in the initial CFP rankings, the Texas Longhorns are now the last team in as the 10th-ranked program in the latest release. Given what's been a tumultuous season for Arch Manning and Company, that has to feel good on some level.
However, the job is not remotely finished, and Texas has to be looking at their final three games with the right lens if they want to hold onto a spot in the College Football Playoff. Obviously, they can't lose the Week 13 matchup to Arkansas, but the shinier points on the remaining schedule are at Georgia this week and then the season finale in Austin against Texas A&M.
The task ahead for the Longhorns is almost assuredly to win at least one of those games, which is no small feat in itself. Beyond that, though, Texas also probably needs to hold their own in both games, even if they don't win. They are already on the bubble as things stand for an at-large bid, and style points matter, even in losses. The good news is, Arch has started to come into his own of late, but they need him and the rest of this roster to fully realize their potential to make good on the opportunity at hand.
Oklahoma Sooners
Just on the opposite side of the bubble — and rightly so, it should be said — of Texas is the rival Oklahoma Sooners. They too moved up one spot from last week's initial College Football Playoff rankings, but are still the first team out from the 12-team bracket with the way things shake out in regards to seeding. And that puts a boatload of pressure on the Sooners.
Much like the rival Longhorns, the Sooners can't afford to lose the lesser games on their schedule against QB-injury riddled Mizzou and ailing LSU. At the same time, Oklahoma might also face the most immediate pressure because of that with their looming Week 12 showdown with No. 4-ranked Alabama. That could be a win-and-in scenario for Brent Venables' team, again assuming they take care of business in the final two weeks of the regular season.
A loss against Bama, however, all but ends the CFP hopes for the Sooners. This is the type of put-up-or-shut-up moment for Oklahoma that fans dream about.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Maybe the biggest shock of the second CFP rankings was Miami jumping ahead of Georgia Tech for ... reasons? I'm not exactly sure what the two-loss Hurricanes did in one week's time to earn that spot, but it does put quite a bit of onus on the Yellow Jackets over the final few weeks of the regular season and, if they do their job there, in the ACC Championship Game as well.
Look, it's abundantly clear that the selection committee only intends to put the ACC champion into the field, though Miami might have an outside shot of sneaking in as an at-large bid — even if I'm personally dubious that could be the case with the nature of their two losses to unranked teams. But it's even more clear that Georgia Tech won't be getting the same benefit of the doubt, barring an upset victory over rival Georgia in Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate in the regular season finale.
That game, thankfully for the Jackets, isn't a must-win affair. However, the other two games on the schedule in ACC play and then the conference title game are of that variety. If Georgia Tech slips up at any point again outside of the Georgia game, their CFP hopes are toast.
South Florida Bulls
With Memphis being upset by Tulane and South Florida submitting yet another dominant performance in American play, the Bulls are now ranked inside the Top 25 and make it into the College Football Playoff field as the highest-ranked Group of Five champion. However, the job is most certainly not done, especially with the strength of the American as a whole.
USF faces Navy in Week 12 before the load lessens with a finishing stretch of UAB and Rice. Having said that, if South Florida does finish the year and punch its ticket to the conference championship bout, that doesn't ensure anything. They obviously have to win the American championship as well.
But that creates a high-pressure situation for Alex Golesh and his team. The American has been dealing body blows to one another, and we've seen that, while USF is damn good, they aren't infallible — and neither is any team in the league, just as any of the top of the conference is capable of winning any game. It's a tricky spot for USF, and one that asks them to be perfect to make the CFP.