The College Football Playoff rankings remained unchanged in its top 10 this week after last week’s top 10 teams each claimed victory — the first time in the history of rankings that’s happened.
Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame and Michigan stayed put in the top four, with Georgia and Oklahoma still knocking on the door at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively.
Alabama is No. 1 for the 15th time in 28 rankings releases.
“These are complete teams,” said committee chair Rob Mullens when asked about the gap between Alabama and Clemson. “We spent a lot of time talking about it. They are both top-10 offenses, top-10 defenses, but at this point, everyone has Alabama one, Clemson two.”
LSU, Washington State, West Virginia and Ohio State stayed the course to round out the top 10.
There was shuffle beyond the top 10, with some losses dropping a few teams and knocking out others altogether.
But first, those that gained. Undefeated UCF climbed up one spot to No. 11 from No. 12, as did Syracuse, up to No. 12 this week from No. 13. Penn State climbed six spots, up to No. 14 from No. 20 last week, after a 22-10 win over Wisconsin.
UCF’s No. 11 ranking is the highest for a Group of Five team in the history of the rankings.
“You can’t avoid the fact that strength of schedule is an issue when compared to the other teams,” Mullens said of UCF.
Iowa State also climbed six spots to No. 16 after its fifth straight win. Texas is No. 15 this week, up three spots.
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CFP committee chairman Rob Mullens discusses the new rankings including how much Alabama and Clemson have separated themselves as the best teams.
But Washington was the biggest climber, coming in at No. 18 — up from No. 25 last week.
Some teams dropped after performances last week: Kentucky slipped from No. 11 to No. 17 after falling to unranked Tennessee, and Florida slipped two spots to No. 15 after a close win against South Carolina. Boston College is No. 20, three spots down from last week, following a 27-7 home loss to Clemson. Another SEC team slipped five spots: Mississippi State, down to No. 21 from No. 16 after a 24-0 shutout loss to the Crimson Tide on Saturday.
Utah is back in the rankings at No. 19 while Northwestern made its CFP debut this season as No. 22.
Michigan State, NC State, Fresno State and Auburn fell out of the rankings altogether.
There was movement among Group of Five teams this week, with Boise State debuting at No. 25 after defeating Fresno State. The Mountain West conference also has representative Utah State at No. 23. And Cincinnati came in at No. 24 this week.