After three straight weeks of the same four schools’ iron grips over the semifinals, the Georgia Bulldogs came in charging into No. 4, knocking out Michigan, which fell to No. 7 after a 62-39 beatdown by Ohio State.
The Buckeyes jumped four spots to No. 6 — a big jump, but not enough to leapfrog Oklahoma, which sits at No. 5. They knocked off West Virginia 59-56 last week, dropping the Mountaineers to No. 16.
The committee moved 11-0 UCF up one spot to No. 8, their undefeated run not quite enough to get over the two-loss Wolverines.
Alabama Crimson, Clemson and Notre Dame maintain their No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 spots, respectively.
From No. 4 to No. 11, there was a shuffling of the season’s most consistent teams, and the most movement within the top 10 in the last two weeks. Washington State fell out of the top 10 to No. 13 after their loss to Washington, now No. 11 — a five-spot gain.
No. 9 Florida broke into the top ten after snapping Florida State‘s impressive bowl game streak on Saturday. And LSU, down to No. 10, fell three spots after a 7-OT 74-72 loss to Texas A&M, which jumped just three spots to No. 19 this week.
That did cause Northwestern to take a small dip to No. 21, down two spots from last week.
No. 12 Penn State, No. 14 Texas, No. 15 Kentucky, No. 17 Utah, No. 18 Mississippi State and No. 20 Syracuse all maintained their rankings from the previous release. No. 22 Boise State, No. 23 Iowa State, newcomer No. 24 Missouri and No. 25 Fresno State complete this week’s rankings.
With conference championships this week, things could look quite different in the final iteration of the CFP Rankings, out Sunday.
SEC titans Alabama and Georgia clash in the championship, a rematch of last year’s title game, where the Bulldogs will surely be revenge-minded.
Texas and Oklahoma will vie for the Big 12 crown while Northwestern faces Ohio State in the Big Ten title game. With all of those teams outside the top four, they will be seeking to make a case for their inclusion in the semifinals.
Clemson and Pitt square off for the ACC, while Utah and Washington battle on Friday night for the Pac-12. And UCF, vying for a second straight perfect regular season, faces Memphis for the American title.