Top 5 doesn't change in second edition of College Football Playoff rankings
There was no significant movement at the top in the second edition of the 2017 College Football Playoff rankings.
The four provisional playoff teams in the first set of rankings stayed in their spots on Tuesday. So did No. 5 Oklahoma, which was the first team out of the playoff a week ago. After those five teams, however, things got a little interesting.
TCU moved up from No. 8 to No. 6 thanks to losses by Ohio State and Penn State. The Horned Frogs beat Texas on Saturday and stayed ahead of undefeated Miami and Wisconsin in the process.
While Wisconsin beat a 3-6 Indiana team, Miami got a signature win against previously-No. 13 Virginia Tech two days ago. It wasn’t enough to vault the Hurricanes into the top 6. Miami is at No. 7.
But don’t fret Miami fans. The Hurricanes will be in the top five next week with a win on Saturday. Miami plays No. 3 Notre Dame on Saturday while Oklahoma takes on TCU. If Miami and Wisconsin — which plays No. 20 Iowa on Saturday — continue to stay undefeated, they’ll make significant jumps next week.
Ohio State dropped from No. 6 to No. 13 in the rankings, a spot behind Michigan State. The two teams play on Saturday. The Spartans beat Penn State on a last-second field goal in Week 10 and the Nittany Lions are now at No. 14. Oklahoma State, which fell to Oklahoma in Week 10, is at No. 15.
The two highest-ranked teams two-loss teams are Auburn and USC. The Tigers are at No. 10 and still control their own playoff path. With wins over Georgia (twice) and Alabama, Auburn would be a near-lock to make the playoff no matter what else happens in college football.
No. 9 Washington is in a better spot this week but the Huskies still need some help. While one-loss Oklahoma and TCU are ahead of Miami and Wisconsin because of their strength of schedule, Washington lags behind. If USC continues to play well, a potential win over the Trojans in the Pac-12 title game could be pivotal for Washington’s playoff chances.
Here are the full rankings.
1. Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Notre Dame
4. Clemson
5. Oklahoma
6. TCU
7. Miami
8. Wisconsin
9. Washington
10. Auburn
11. USC
12. Michigan State
13. Ohio State
14. Penn State
15. Oklahoma State
16. Mississippi State
17. Virginia Tech
18. UCF
19. Washington State
20. Iowa
21. Iowa State
22. Memphis
23. NC State
24. LSU
25. Northwestern
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
