College football rankings 2023, Projected Week 12 CFP Top 25: Georgia claims No. 1, Michigan makes statement

Projected Top 25 College Football Playoff rankings after Week 11: No. 6-5

6. Oregon Ducks

Many have argued that the Oregon Ducks are simply the better team than the rival Washington Huskies, despite the head-to-head loss that they took in Seattle. Having said that, the argument holds water with how dominant the Ducks have been at just about every turn this season, beating Utah on the road 35-6, hanging 50+ on every bottom-tier Pac-12 opponent they’ve seen, and so on. 

It looked like they would try to make another statement this week against USC as they pulled away for a big lead over the Trojans. But Caleb Williams fought back in a massive way and tried to make things more interesting than they probably should've been. Oregon fought off the comeback attempt for a nine-point win, but anyone believing hard in Dan Lanning's team doesn't feel any different after this one, especially with Bo Nix putting up a 400-yard showcase.

5. Washington Huskies

There have been very few dull moments with the Washington Huskies this season and Saturday in Seattle was no exception. Bryson Barnes and Utah moved the ball seemingly at will in the first half against the UW defense and the Utes took a 28-24 lead into halftime, which had everyone thinking that the long-forecasted cannibalization of the Pac-12 as it pertains to Playoff contender was about to begin. 

Instead, Michael Penix Jr. and running back Dillon Johnson continued to march down the field and, despite some self-inflicted wounds (not the least of which was dropping the ball short of the goal-line on a would-be pick-six), the defense stepped up hugely to pull ahead and hold for a 35-28 victory at Husky Stadium. It looks like Kalen DeBoer’s team might be playing a bit too much with fire, but there’s still a zero in the loss column for now.