College Football Playoff Rankings See Michigan Jump To No. 2; Super Saturday May Create Chaos
Michigan (11-1) jumped from No. 5 to No. 2 in the College Football Rankings released on Tuesday night on the strength of its 42-27 upset of No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday.
Georgia (12-0) remained No. 1 heading into the final pre-playoffs rankings that come out at 11 a.m. central time on Sunday. Alabama (11-1) remained No. 3 after struggling against 6-5 Auburn for a 24-22 win in four overtimes. Cincinnati (12-0) stayed at No. 4.
Oklahoma State (11-1) jumped two spots to No. 5 after beating Oklahoma, which fell four spots to No. 14.
Notre Dame (11-1) remained at No. 6, but it has a chance to move up should Georgia beat Alabama in the SEC title game on Saturday (3 p.m., CBS) and another top five team falls in one of the conference championship games.
The Fighting Irish, though, are a team without a coach at the moment, however, with coach Brian Kelly accepting the LSU job on Monday night. Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick does not plan on naming an interim coach from the present staff so each coach can continue in their roles while he looks for a replacement. The Irish do not have game until a CFP semifinal or a bowl.
There could be chaos in the final rankings after a Saturday schedule involving critical games. The two national semifinal games set for Dec. 31 at the Cotton Bowl in Arlington, Texas, and the Orange Bowl in Miami will be set Sunday with the bowl game pairings to follow.
Michigan will have to get by No. 13 Iowa (10-2) in the Big Ten championship game at 8 p.m. on FOX to stay in the final four. A perfect season for Cincinnati rides on the Atlantic Coast Conference title game (3 p.m., ABC) against No. 21 Houston (11-1). And Oklahoma State will try to stay in contention against No. 9 Baylor (10-2) in the Big 12 title game at 11 a.m. on ABC.
Ohio State (10-2) dropped five spots to No. 7 after the loss to Michigan. Ole Miss (10-2) is at No. 8, and Oregon (10-2) is at No. 10.
Finishing off the top 15 were Michigan State (10-2) at No. 11, No. 12 BYU (10-2), No. 13 Iowa (10-2), No. 14 Oklahoma (10-2) and Pittsburgh (10-2) at No. 15.
Rounding out the final 10 spots are No. 16 Wake Forest (10-2), No. 17 Utah (9-3), No. 18 North Carolina State (9-3), No. 19 San Diego State (11-1), No. 20 Clemson (9-3), No. 21 Houston (11-1), No. 22 Arkansas (8-4), No. 23 Kentucky (9-3) No. 24 Louisiana (11-1) and No. 25 Texas A&M (8-4).