As college football freaks wondered how the rankings of Alabama, Georgia and Oklahoma might shift after a turbulent weekend, the College Football Playoff selection committee issued its rulings Tuesday night: down by six slots, up by one and up by three.
Once that shook out, Alabama (8-2) stood at No. 10 after its loss to Oklahoma, Georgia (9-1) reached No. 4 after its win over Texas, and Oklahoma jumped to No. 8 after its win at Alabama. After all that, the Crimson Tide remained in the mix for the 12-team playoff in the last at-large slot available if the season were to end today.
Just outside the playoff at the moment stood BYU (9-1) at No. 11 and Utah (8-2) at No. 12, each having moved up one space, and each benefiting from the plunge of Texas (7-3), whose 35-10 disappointment at Georgia plunged it from No. 10 to No. 17.
The top three remained intact: No. 1 Ohio State (10-0), No. 2 Indiana (11-0) and No. 3 Texas A&M (10-0). The Aggies’ recovery from a 30-3 halftime deficit against visiting South Carolina all the way to a 31-30 win did not persuade the 12-member committee to dock them below Georgia, which did inch from No. 5 to No. 4.
The top-rated ACC team wound up Miami (Fla.) (8-2), which budged two spaces from No. 15 to No. 13, meaning the Hurricanes would get a playoff spot as of now. The ACC had only two other teams on the list, with both unchanged from last week: No. 16 Georgia Tech (9-1) after it barely withstood Boston College, and No. 19 Virginia (9-1) after it throttled Duke.
Meanwhile, the front-runner spot for the Group of Five, the Football Bowl Subdivision’s lower half that gets a bid each year, continued bouncing around, having gone from Memphis in the first week of rankings until it lost to Tulane, to South Florida in the second week until it lost at Navy, and now Tulane (8-2) in the third week, sitting at No. 23 in the committee rankings as the only Group of Five team on the list.
This week’s rankings
1. Ohio State (10-0)
2. Indiana (11-0)
3. Texas A&M (10-0)
4. Georgia (9-1)
5. Texas Tech (10-1)
6. Ole Miss (10-1)
7. Oregon (9-1)
8. Oklahoma (8-2)
9. Notre Dame (8-2)
10. Alabama (8-2)
11. BYU (9-1)
12. Utah (8-2)
13. Miami (8-2)
14. Vanderbilt (8-2)
15. USC (8-2)
16. Georgia Tech (9-1)
17. Texas (7-3)
18. Michigan (8-2)
19. Virginia (9-2)
20. Tennessee (7-3)
21. Illinois (7-3)
22. Missouri (7-3)
23. Houston (8-2)
24. Tulane (8-2)
25. Arizona State (7-3)
The post Georgia, Oklahoma make a move in the latest CFP rankings
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