Projected CFP rankings after Michigan upsets Ohio State, South Carolina beats Clemson

Rivalry week has already exploded with a bang. We saw Tulane fall to Memphis in a game the Green Wave could not afford if they had serious College Football Playoff aspirations. While neither team won on Saturday, the Clemson Tigers and Ohio State Buckeyes are still alive to make it in for the time being. Ohio State lost to Michigan for the fourth season in a row. Clemson blew it vs. South Carolina.

Ohio State finishes the season at 10-2 with a pair of Big Ten losses to Oregon and Michigan. The Buckeyes need for Penn State and Indiana to lose to get to the Big Ten Championship Game. All Penn State needs to do is beat Maryland to get in. Indiana needs Penn State to fall and then must beat Purdue to face the Ducks in Indianapolis. Clemson can get to Charlotte with Miami losing to Syracuse.

With Clemson, Ohio State and Tulane all losing, these are the latest playoff rankings projections.

Projected CFP rankings after Clemson, Michigan and Tulane lose games

1. Oregon Ducks
2. Texas Longhorns
3. Penn State Nittany Lions
4. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
5. Miami Hurricanes
6. Georgia Bulldogs
7. Tennessee Volunteers
8. Ohio State Buckeyes
9. SMU Mustangs
10. Indiana Hoosiers
11. Boise State Broncos
12. Alabama Crimson Tide
13. Ole Miss Rebels
14. South Carolina Gamecocks
15. Arizona State Sun Devils
16. Iowa State Cyclones
17. BYU Cougars
18. Texas A&M Aggies
19. Clemson Tigers
20. Missouri Tigers
21. UNLV Rebels
22. Illinois Fighting Illini
23. Kansas State Wildcats
24. Colorado Buffaloes
25. Tulane Green Wave

Ohio State would fall from No. 2 to No. 8 with this three-point loss to Michigan. The Buckeyes' two defeats are by a combined four points. They have the Penn State and Indiana wins propping them up, but this loss to the Wolverines is significant. Clemson would fall from No. 12 all the way down to No. 19. They would be in the same bucket as other three-loss pretenders like Texas A&M and Missouri.

Tulane may still crack the next College Football Playoff rankings at No. 25 just to keep it interesting.

For Clemson, the Tigers are now the ACC equivalent of Texas A&M. They need to get to their conference championship to have any shot of making the playoff now. Right now, I have South Carolina moving up a spot, but the Gamecocks could be inside of the top 12 after Tuesday night's penultimate playoff rankings. I need to see how the rest of the weekend's slate of games shake out.

Ohio State is still probably in the playoff picture, but the Buckeyes are probably only getting in as the last Big Ten at-large team. That would have them be something like a No. 10 or No. 11 seed in all honesty. The Buckeyes would be a brutal matchup for someone in the first round of the playoff. Like Texas potentially losing to Texas A&M during rivalry week, they need a lot of chaos to miss out now.

Overall, the biggest winners of the early afternoon slate are without question South Carolina and Tennessee. The Vols are pretty much a lock at this point to make the playoff at 10-2. South Carolina could be a serious contender to make it in as a 9-3 team as one of the last at-larges. The Gamecocks may be duking it out with the likes of Ohio State and other two-loss teams for the last spot in this.

Right now, Clemson's only hope of making the playoff would be if Syracuse were to upset Miami here.