Current:Home > MyCollege Football Playoff rankings: Ohio State, Oklahoma among winners and losers-LoTradeCoin
College Football Playoff rankings: Ohio State, Oklahoma among winners and losers
View Date:2024-12-23 19:41:45
Ohio State remained No. 1 in the second College Football Playoff rankings, stiff-arming a challenge from two-time defending national champion Georgia.
Now can the Buckeyes stay there through the first Saturday of December?
While they trailed at halftime and nearly went down by two possessions early in the third quarter, the Buckeyes did notch the sort of win against Rutgers that tends to move the needle with the playoff selection committee. One, Rutgers is a Power Five opponent, and two, the Scarlet Knights have a winning record.
But that win was not as impressive as Georgia's 30-21 victory against Missouri, inching the Bulldogs a little bit closer to Ohio State. That gap may close or evaporate entirely given how Georgia next plays No. 9 Mississippi and No. 13 Tennessee before ending the month against Georgia Tech, which could by that point be bowl eligible.
Ohio State has the trump card: the rivalry against No. 3 Michigan. Even if Georgia moves ahead in the next two weeks, winning in Ann Arbor would be enough to send the Buckeyes back to No. 1. Until the following Saturday, that is, should the Bulldogs complete another perfect regular season by beating Alabama in the SEC championship game.
The Buckeyes and Bulldogs lead the winners and losers from Tuesday night's playoff rankings:
Winners
Ohio State
The committee really likes the Buckeyes. Not that there's any real reason not to: Ohio State has been reimagined with a focus on defense and sparked by the return of running back TreVeyon Henderson in posting six wins against opponents with a winning record. While the Notre Dame fell to No. 20 after losing to Clemson, the Buckeyes also owns an impressive twofer of wins against the Fighting Irish and Penn State. There's reason to think Georgia could acquire the wins needed to eventually pull up to No. 1 but no real argument at this point for bumping the Buckeyes back a spot.
Tulane
With Air Force taking a 20-point loss to Army, No. 23 Tulane stands as the only Group of Five team in the playoff rankings and the obvious favorite to make a return trip to the New Year's Six with another American Athletic championship. Things could become complicated should the Green Wave lose a game in November, which could open a path for unbeaten Liberty, Toledo or the eventual winner of the Mountain West to move to the front of the line. Another thing to consider: James Madison continues to push the NCAA to undo a rule that prevents the Dukes from participating in the postseason as a transitional member of the Bowl Subdivision. If successful, James Madison could be a contender to land ahead of Tulane.
BOWL PROJECTIONS: It's crunch time for the playoff contenders
CALM DOWN: Five biggest overreactions from Week 10 of season
Missouri
The Tigers fell just two spots to No. 14 and are a very real contender for the New Year's Six heading into Saturday's game against Tennessee. Given how the committee has given Missouri some benefit of the doubt through two rankings, a win against the Volunteers could push the Tigers even closer to top 10 and set up a scenario where they can clinch a 10-win regular season and a finish inside the final top 12 with wins against Florida and Arkansas to end November.
Losers
Oklahoma
The Sooners didn't just drop after losing to Oklahoma State — they plummeted eight spots to No. 17 after suffering a second loss. This fall is a result of the committee's wishy-washiness over Oklahoma's broader résumé that predated these two defeats to Kansas and the Cowboys, primarily hinged to what the committee has viewed as unimpressive wins against SMU, Cincinnati and Central Florida. Some aspect of where the Sooners land in the playoff rankings has to do with head-to-head tiebreakers; they have to be behind Kansas and Oklahoma State, two teams with the same record. But there's another part of Oklahoma's ranking that speaks to its reputation with the committee, and November games against West Virginia, TCU and Brigham Young won't do much to change that conversation.
Southern California
As expected, Southern California was not in the playoff rankings after a shootout loss to Washington, the Trojans' third loss. There's still something unbelievably disappointing about this absence: USC was one win away from reaching last year's national semifinals and won six in a row to open this season before dropping three of four, with the one win a 50-49 disaster against California. While any national championship hopes evaporated nearly a month ago, for the Trojans to not even be in the rankings at all really hammers home how disappointing this season has been.
veryGood! (42)
Related
- Get well, Pop. The Spurs are in great hands until your return
- Caitlin Clark is known for logo 3s. Are high school players trying to emulate her?
- These Sephora & Nordstrom Rack Gift Sets Are on Sale, Save Up to 83% on Armani, Bobbi Brown & More
- Arkansas parole board chair was fired from police department for lying about sex with minor
- Joan says 'Yes!' to 'Golden Bachelorette' finale fantasy beach proposal. Who did she pick?
- Target pulls Black History Month book that misidentified 3 civil rights icons
- Man gets life plus up to 80 years for killing of fellow inmate during Nebraska prison riot
- NPR's Student Podcast Challenge is back – with a fourth-grade edition!
- Bull doge! Dogecoin soars as Trump announces a government efficiency group nicknamed DOGE
- As Mardi Gras nears, a beefed-up police presence and a rain-scrambled parade schedule in New Orleans
Ranking
- Roy Haynes, Grammy-winning jazz drummer, dies at 99: Reports
- Cleanup continues of fire-suppression foam at hangar at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston
- Want to run faster? It comes down to technique, strength and practice.
- New Legislation Aiming to Inject Competition Into Virginia’s Offshore Wind Market Could Spark a Reexamination of Dominion’s Monopoly Power
- Chris Wallace will leave CNN 3 years after defecting from 'Fox News Sunday'
- Oklahoma rattled by shallow 5.1 magnitude earthquake
- Subway footlong cookies: Loved so much by customers that chain can't keep up with demand
- 'Like it or not, we live in Oppenheimer's world,' says director Christopher Nolan
Recommendation
-
New Pentagon report on UFOs includes hundreds of new incidents but no evidence of aliens
-
Canadian man buys winning $1 million scratch-off ticket same day his 2nd child was born
-
She had appendicitis at age 12. Now she's researching why the appendix matters
-
Mom charged after police say she moved with her boyfriend, left child with no heat, water
-
Queen Elizabeth II's Final 5-Word Diary Entry Revealed
-
Fani Willis' court filing confirms romantic relationship with lawyer on Trump case but denies any conflict
-
Florida trooper killed in Interstate 95 crash while trying to catch a fleeing felon, officials say
-
Extreme heat, wildfire smoke harm low-income and nonwhite communities the most, study finds