College Football Playoff Poll Has Some Big Surprises, Sets Up Crazy Conference Championship Weekend

Hunter Yurachek says committee members changed minds despite Crimson Tide blowing 17-0 lead to 5-6 Tigers

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The latest iteration of the College Football Playoff poll was released on Tuesday night, with several surprises that look to set up a wild conference championship weekend.

Much of the debate around the committee's rankings has centered on a few teams and their placement in the bottom of the top-10 and top of the next five. This week's poll, far from settling that question, has made the picture a bit more complicated. 

There are a few teams that have already essentially locked up their spot in the 12-team field, thanks to their regular season success or avoiding the potential minefield of a conference championship. Ohio State is in, regardless of what happens in Indianapolis on Saturday. So is Indiana, Georgia, Oregon, Ole Miss, and Oklahoma. Texas Tech almost assuredly is too.

What isn't so certain? Where things shake out between Notre Dame, Alabama, BYU, Miami and Texas.

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That picture, somehow, got more and less clear at the same time Tuesday night. Here's the new top 25, as released by the Playoff Committee:

  1. Ohio State Buckeyes
  2. Indiana Hoosiers
  3. Georgia Bulldogs
  4. Texas Tech Red Raiders
  5. Oregon Ducks
  6. Ole Miss Rebels
  7. Texas A&M Aggies
  8. Oklahoma Sooners
  9. Alabama Crimson Tide
  10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
  11. BYU Cougars
  12. Miami Hurricanes
  13. Texas Longhorns
  14. Vanderbilt Commodres
  15. Utah Utes
  16. USC Trojans
  17. Virginia Cavaliers
  18. Arizona Wildcats
  19. Michigan Wolverines
  20. Tulane Green Wave
  21. Houston Cougars
  22. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
  23. Iowa Hawkeyes
  24. North Texas Mean Green
  25. James Madison Dukes
Notre Dame Fighting Irish

ATLANTA - Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman reacts after a play against the Ohio State Buckeyes during the second half the CFP National Championship college football game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 20, 2025. Photo: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Playoff Committee Explanations Make Little Sense, As Usual

The big news? Alabama, after a close win over the Auburn Tigers, moved up one spot, getting ahead of Notre Dame. Another surprise, that Miami, after weeks of debate over whether it should be ahead of Notre Dame thanks to a head-to-head win, stayed at No. 12. It's also notable that the Longhorns moved up several spots after beating A&M, but likely remain well out of the playoff picture.

Preferring Notre Dame or Alabama can come down to personal preference, but what's especially grating is that the process to decide between the two teams seems to be extremely flawed. College Football Playoff Committee head Hunter Yurachek told ESPN that several committee members changed their minds because…Alabama almost lost to a bad team?

Rece Davis asked Yurachek why Bama moved up, to which he answered: "The debate between Alabama and Notre Dame has been one of the strongest debates we've had in the room…This week as we looked at these two teams, Notre Dame went on the road and had a strong win at Stanford, but Alabama went on the road in a rivalry game, looked really good, especially in the first half, getting up 17-0, ran the ball well. Auburn came back at them, they had a great gutsy call on 4th and 2 late in the third quarter, getting a touchdown. Then got the turnover late in that game, and I think that was enough to change the mind of a couple of committee members."

That's ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. Offensive, even. Beyond going into the idiocy of this type of subjective evaluation influencing rankings, Alabama played a horrible game on Saturday, blowing a 17-0 lead to a 5-6 Auburn team. Auburn's resume ranking this year, per SP+, is 66th overall. 

Again, per SP+, Alabama's postgame win expectancy was just 44.5 percent. Put simply, the Crimson Tide deserved to lose. They had just 3.8 yards per play and allowed 5.5 to Auburn. The Crimson Tide had just 122 passing yards. They averaged 4.2 yards per rush. That's running the ball well? 

That changed the committee members' minds? What are we doing here?

And moving Bama up could determine the playoff field. If, say, Georgia wins on Saturday in Atlanta, the committee could decide it doesn't want to punish the Crimson Tide for losing in the SEC Championship Game. If so, and depending on the results of other conference championship games, they could be included in the playoff field ahead of other teams because they got outplayed by a mediocre-to-bad Auburn team. Ugly. 

Meanwhile, Notre Dame is in serious trouble of missing out. While Yurachek said that they will evaluate the results of the conference championship games after they're completed, if BYU beats Texas Tech, the Big 12 would likely get two teams in the field. And in the process, push out the Irish. Yurachek also said that idle teams can move up or down, depending on the results Saturday. 

"Idle teams can move following the results and how they impact the teams involved," he said. Meaning that "Yes, teams that are idle can move up or down."

It's unlikely Miami jumps Notre Dame, but who knows? 

What this top 25 indicates is that Saturday will be tremendously influential on seeding. Let's say Ohio State beats Indiana. Would the committee leave the Hoosiers in the top-4, securing a first round bye? Or vice versa? Or does an Alabama win over Georgia give them a bye? A Duke upset win over Virginia would also change the playoff picture entirely. 

There's a lot going on here, but the Alabama move, after a bad game, seems to indicate that the committee has been at least somewhat swayed by SEC arguments. Though at least, thank God, not the ones coming from Texas.