The latest edition of the College Football Playoff rankings has been unveiled.
On the shortest rankings reveal of the season I assumed we’d get the fewest answers. However, we got one very clear message delivered by committee chairman Warde Manuel.
Most of the debate of the rankings over the last week has centered around Alabama, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Miami. During the most recent rankings, those four teams were ranked No. 11-14 in order of Alabama, Miami, Ole Miss and South Carolina.
The question from fans everywhere and what was ultimately posed by Rece Davis was whether or not there was anything left those teams could do to change their ranking now that their seasons are over. The answer was a resounding no.
“Any team that is not playing right now, we don’t have a data point to rearrange where we have those teams ranked,” Manuel said. “And, so that is set in terms of how we see them going into the final week of Championship week. There’s nothing that’s going to change, Rece, for us to evaluate them any differently than we have now. Those teams who are not playing cannot be adjusted in terms of where they are compared to other teams.”
Basically, the hay is in the barn for everyone outside of the teams participating in championship games before the final selection day on Sunday December 8.
Here are the top 25 teams in this week’s rankings with the SEC teams in bold.
- Oregon
- Texas
- Penn State
- Notre Dame
- Georgia
- Ohio State
- Tennessee
- SMU
- Indiana
- Boise State
- Alabama
- Miami
- Ole Miss
- South Carolina
- Arizona State
- Iowa State
- Clemson
- BYU
- Missouri
- UNLV
- Illinois
- Syracuse
- Colorado
- Army
- Memphis
