By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer
Ohio State, Indiana and Texas A&M remained the top three teams in the latest College Football Playoff rankings released on Tuesday, while Alabama dropped six spots to No. 10 after its loss to Oklahoma.
The Crimson Tide are now behind No. 9 Notre Dame, even though they have more Top 25 victories (four) than the Fighting Irish (one). Georgia, which Alabama beat in September, moved up to No. 4, while Texas Tech moved up to No. 5, Mississippi to No. 6, Oregon to No. 7 and Oklahoma up three spots to No. 8 after its 23-21 win in Tuscaloosa.
BYU is ranked No. 11, followed by Utah at No. 12, Miami at No. 13, Vanderbilt at No. 14 and USC at No. 15. The Hurricanes jumped two spots after a 41-7 win over North Carolina State, but they are four spots behind Notre Dame – a big point of contention among those at Miami and in the ACC. The two teams have the same 8-2 record, but Miami beat Notre Dame, 27-24, to open the season.
The big difference between the teams is the losses: Notre Dame lost close games to two ranked teams (Miami and Texas A&M), and Miami lost to two unranked teams (Louisville, SMU).
“Miami needs to continue to win the football games they have in front of them, and good things will happen,” said Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek, who took over this week as chair of the selection committee and answered more questions about the Hurricanes than any other team in the rankings.
Yurachek said on the ESPN broadcast that to this point, “we really haven’t compared those teams,” referring to Miami and Notre Dame. That said, if both teams were to end up in a comparable tier, then “head-to-head will be a significant data point,” according to Yurachek.
“They haven’t been in similar comparative pools to date,” Yurachek said. “But Miami is creeping up in that range where they will be compared to Notre Dame if something happens above them.”
Texas, meanwhile, saw its at-large hopes take a hit. The Longhorns tumbled seven spots to No. 17 after a 35-10 loss to Georgia dropped them to 7-3, moving behind No. 16 Georgia Tech. Michigan is No. 18, Virginia is No. 19 and Tennessee moved up three spots to No. 20.
Illinois, Missouri, Houston, Tulane and Arizona State round out the top 25.
The five highest-ranked conference champions will make the 12-team field, but there is a tweak to the format this year, as the committee is using a straight seeding model. The top four teams in the final ranking, regardless of conference championship, will receive a first-round bye.
If the playoffs were held today, these would be the first-round matchups: Tulane at Texas Tech; Miami at Mississippi; Alabama at Oregon; Notre Dame at Oklahoma. While Miami is slotted in as the highest-ranked ACC team in the current rankings, the Hurricanes still have long odds to win the conference title.
If Georgia Tech beats Pitt on Saturday, and Virginia beats Virginia Tech next week, those two teams would play for the ACC championship. The winner would earn the automatic berth as one of the five highest-ranked conference champions.
For Miami to advance to the ACC title game, the Hurricanes need to win out; have Virginia, Georgia Tech and SMU lose their remaining games; and have Duke lose one of its final two games. ESPN FPI currently gives Georgia Tech a 35.3% chance to win the ACC and Virginia a 32.7% chance.
Realistically, the Hurricanes’ best chance of getting into the bracket – with an at-large berth – hinges on getting some help from above them. Clearly, their best chance would be leapfrogging No. 10 Alabama, No. 11 BYU and No. 12 Utah to move into the same section of the bracket as Notre Dame to force the head-to-head comparison.
The SEC led the way again Tuesday with nine ranked teams, while the Big Ten has six. The Big 12 has five with the additions of Houston and Arizona State, and the ACC has three after Pitt dropped out following its 37-15 loss to Notre Dame. Tulane replaced South Florida as the top-ranked Group of 5 representative.
Ranking Alabama below Notre Dame this week had a lot to do, Yurachek said, with comparing losses – the Crimson Tide’s season-opening loss to Florida State seems to look worse every week.
Even though Alabama dropped to No. 10, the Crimson Tide still have favorable odds to make the SEC championship game, which would all but guarantee a spot in the CFP no matter the result. According to ESPN Research, Alabama has a 71% chance to make it to Atlanta with only one SEC game remaining, at Auburn in the Iron Bowl.
Georgia is done with SEC play but would lose a tiebreaker to Alabama. If Texas A&M wins at Texas next weekend, the Aggies would clinch a spot in Atlanta.
Texas A&M overcame a 30-3 halftime deficit to beat South Carolina, 31-30, last week. It came a week after No. 2 Indiana needed a late rally to barely beat Penn State.
“What the committee saw in both Indiana and Texas A&M is that good teams find ways to win even when they don’t play their best,” Yurachek said.
In the Big Ten, Ohio State and Indiana are in good shape to make it into the CFP. There is a crucial conference game this weekend that will have major implications for the Big Ten and an at-large berth: No. 15 USC plays at No. 7 Oregon.
In the Big 12, Texas Tech and BYU are the only two teams with one conference loss, so they would play for the conference title if they win out.
Commissioner Brett Yormark seemed satisfied: “I am thrilled to see the Big 12 Conference getting the respect it deserves,” he said.
There are two more Tuesday night rankings reveals to position everyone before the final CFP rankings are announced on Sunday, Dec. 7, the day after the last conference championship games. The four first-round CFP games will be played at the home campuses of the higher-seeded teams on Dec. 19 and 20. The four quarterfinal games will be played at the Cotton Bowl (Dec. 31) in Arlington, Texas, the Orange Bowl (Jan. 1) in Miami, the Rose Bowl (Jan. 1) and the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans (Jan. 1).
The two semifinal games will take place at the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona, and the Peach Bowl in Atlanta on Jan. 8 and 9, respectively.
The CFP National Championship game is scheduled for Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
CONFERENCE WATCH
SEC: Texas plunged with its not-so-pretty loss to Georgia. … The best hope for the SEC to get a sixth team in the field now belongs to Vanderbilt, which seems stuck at No. 14. But whose spot would the Commodores take? … Maybe Alabama’s? The Tide – teetering right around the bubble and with a game at Auburn on Nov. 29 – need to watch out.
Big Ten: Saturday is USC’s big chance, with the game at No. 7 Oregon. No. 18 Michigan also lingers with that game against Ohio State coming in two weeks. Upsets in either contest would be the best chance for this to be a four-team league.
Big 12: No. 11 BYU and No. 12 Utah are both on the bubble and would presumably need a win over Texas Tech in the title game to give this league two teams.
ACC: Virginia’s best win of the season – at Louisville – got devalued a bit more when the Cardinals lost to Clemson last week. Georgia Tech didn’t wow anyone with a last-second win over Boston College (1-10).
Group of 5: At No. 24, Tulane is the third team in three weeks to hold the G5 spot. Power 4 games against Duke, Mississippi and Northwestern help the Green Wave, but they would still need to win the tough American. (Think Navy.)
FIRST-ROUND INTRIGUE
No. 12 Tulane at No. 5 Texas Tech: This would be their first game since 1971. Their 1960 meeting was a classic showdown between Southeastern and Southwestern Conferences.
No. 11 Miami at No. 6 Mississippi: Lane Kiffin gets to coach against one of the few teams not looking to hire him.
No. 10 Alabama at No. 7 Oregon: Seems strange (or does it?) that these two programs have never played each other.
No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 8 Oklahoma: The Irish beat the Sooners, 7-0, in 1957 to snap OU’s 47-game winning streak.
—– CFP TOP 25 RANKINGS – Nov. 18 —–
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. Mississippi (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)