CFP rankings: Ohio State stays in first place while Alabama drops down

Recent College Football Playoff Rankings

Recently, the College Football Playoff Selection Committee released the rankings for the third installment of the year-end playoffs. This announcement sparked questions about several teams, such as how low Alabama might drop after their recent loss to Oklahoma, the implications for Texas following their defeat to Georgia, and which Group of 5 teams might make the playoff cut if they began this weekend.

Alabama indeed fell six positions, landing at 10th place after their loss to Oklahoma. Texas didn’t fare much better, slipping to 17th, which really puts their playoff chances in jeopardy. To improve their standing, Texas will need a solid win against Texas A&M in their final regular-season game, along with some assistance from other results.

On a brighter note, Georgia climbed into the fourth spot after their victory over Texas, coupled with Alabama’s loss.

At the lower end of the top 25, Tulane has made a move up to 24th place, positioning themselves as a contender for Group of 5.

Current CFP Ranking

Here are the rankings recently announced by the Committee:

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 State (9-1) 8. Oklahoma (8-2) 9. Notre Dame (8-2) 10. Alabama (8-2) 11. BYU (9-1) 12. Utah State (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 State (8-2) 19. Virginia (9-2) 20. Tennessee (7-3) 21. Illinois (7-3) 22. Missouri State (7-3) 23. Houston (8-2) 24. Tulane (8-2) 25. Arizona State (7-3)

Current CFP Bracket

Based on the rankings, we can speculate about the potential College Football Playoff scenarios:

Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M, and Georgia would receive first-round byes.

The first-round matchups would be as follows:

Interestingly, Miami is currently leading in the ACC rankings, but their route to the Championship Game is quite challenging. After suffering two conference losses to Louisville and SMU, they lag behind four teams in the ACC standings—Georgia Tech, Virginia, Pittsburgh, and SMU. It seems Miami either needs quite a bit of help or to perform exceptionally well to stay in the race.