No. 4 USC Will Make Playoffs With Win Friday; Ohio State, Bama Need Help, Georgia No. 1

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The Georgia Bulldogs remained No. 1 in the final College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday night before the critical conference championship games this weekend.

Georgia (12-0) stayed in the top spot despite Michigan claiming the most significant win of anyone as the Wolverines manhandled previous No. 2 Ohio State, 45-23, on Saturday. Michigan (12-0) moved up one spot to No. 2.

Texas Christian (12-0) also moved up a slot to No. 3.

But the big news was USC (11-1) moving to No. 4 from six after its second straight win over a ranked team. The Trojans beat previous No. 15 Notre Dame on Saturday after beating No. 16 UCLA the previous week.

If the above four teams win this weekend, the playoffs are set with them, period.

Ohio State tight end Cade Stover is tackled by Michigan defensive back Rod Moore during the Wolverines' win over Ohio State on Saturday in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)

Ohio State (11-1) is at No. 5, which means it has the best chance to reach the final four, should TCU or USC lose this weekend. Alabama (10-2) moved up just one spot to No. 6 and will not have much of a chance of making the playoffs. It would likely need multiple top four teams to lose.

Three Conference Title Games Key To Playoffs

There are three conference championship games this weekend that are pivotal as far as the final four. Those start with USC vs. No. 11 Utah (9-3) in the Pac-12 title game on Friday (8 p.m., FOX). Michigan will play Purdue (8-4) in the Big Ten title game Saturday (8 p.m., FOX). And TCU plays No. 10 Kansas State (9-3) on Saturday (Noon, ABC).

The rest of the top 10 had No. 7 Tennessee (10-2), No. 8 Penn State (10-2), No. 9 Clemson (10-2) and No. 10 Kansas State.

The second 10 featured No. 11 Utah, 12 Washington, 13 Florida State, 14 LSU, 15 Oregon State, 16 Oregon, 17 UCLA, 18 Tulane, 19 South Carolina and 20 Texas.

The bottom five were 21 Notre Dame, 22 UCF, 23 North Carolina, 24 Mississippi State and 25 North Carolina State.

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Guilbeau joined OutKick as an SEC columnist in September of 2021 after covering LSU and the Saints for 17 years at USA TODAY Louisiana. He has been a national columnist/feature writer since the summer of 2022, covering college football, basketball and baseball with some NFL, NBA, MLB, TV and Movies and general assignment, including hot dog taste tests. A New Orleans native and Mizzou graduate, he has consistently won Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) and Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) awards since covering Alabama and Auburn at the Mobile Press-Register (1993-98) and LSU and the Saints at the Baton Rouge Advocate (1998-2004). In 2021, Guilbeau won an FWAA 1st for a game feature, placed in APSE Beat Writing, Breaking News and Explanatory, and won Beat Writer of the Year from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA). He won an FWAA columnist 1st in 2017 and was FWAA's top overall winner in 2016 with 1st in game story, 2nd in columns, and features honorable mention. Guilbeau completed a book in 2022 about LSU's five-time national champion coach - "Everything Matters In Baseball: The Skip Bertman Story" - that is available at www.acadianhouse.com, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble outlets. He lives in Baton Rouge with his wife, the former Michelle Millhollon of Thibodaux who previously covered politics for the Baton Rouge Advocate and is a communications director.