There were no changes to the top five in the College Football Playoff Selection Committee’s third seeding Tuesday night, with No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Michigan and No. 4 TCU holding steady as the nation’s only undefeated team. teams, followed by No. 5 Tennessee.
After a 66-24 drubbing of unranked Missouri, the Vols remained the committee’s top-ranked one-loss team, keeping them in playoff contention without winning their division. Georgia clinched the SEC East and will face No. 6 LSU, the top-ranked two-loss team, in the SEC Championship Game. If LSU wins its conference, it could make history as the first two-loss team to reach the CFP.
“The committee feels there has been a separation with Georgia,” said selection committee chairman Boo Corrigan, who is also North Carolina State’s athletic director.
Tennessee could become the fifth team to make the CFP without winning a conference title and the third to not win its division, joining 2016 Ohio State and 2017 Alabama. The SEC has had several teams make the CFP twice, including last season when Georgia beat Alabama to win the national title.
1. Georgia (10-0)14. Ole Miss (8-2)2. Ohio State (10-0)15. Kansas St. (7-3)3. Michigan (10-0)16. UCLA (8-2)4. TCU (10-0)17. Washington (8-2)5. Tennessee (9-1)18. Notre Dame (7-3)6. LSU (8-2)19. Florida Street (7-3)7. USC (9-1)20. UCF (8-2)8. Alabama (8-2)21. Tulane (8-2)9. Clemson (9-1)22. C. OK (7-3)10. Utah (8-2)23. Oregon Street (7-3)11. Penn State (8-2)24. NC Street (7-3)12. Oregon (8-2)25. Cincinnati (8-2)13. North Carolina (9-1)
Without a conference championship, the Vols will face increased scrutiny from the selection committee and will be banking on impressive wins against Alabama and LSU to win a debate against a Power 5 conference champion.
USC (9-1) is now the top-ranked team in the Pac-12 at No. 7 after Oregon lost to Washington on Saturday, dropping the two-loss Ducks to No. 12. The Pac-12 has six No. 1 teams of the CFP. 25 with the addition of No. 23 Oregon State, including two in the top 10 (USC and No. 10 Utah).
USC can clinch a spot in the conference title game Saturday with a win at UCLA, and Oregon will face Utah in another game that will help determine the Pac-12 Championship participants.
TCU clinched a spot in the Big 12 championship game with its 17-10 win at Texas, but the four-loss Longhorns fell from No. 18 in the CFP top 25 this week. It helped the Horned Frogs that No. 22 Oklahoma State re-entered the rankings this week, giving TCU its second win against a ranked opponent, along with No. 15 Kansas State.
There are three more rankings, including the release of the final top 25 on selection day on December 4. No team has been ranked outside of the committee’s top 10 at this point in the season and still made the CFP. The lowest was Michigan State in 2015 and Oklahoma in 2019, when both ranked ninth.
Two-loss Alabama is the No. 8 seed this week, ahead of one-loss No. 9 Clemson, which will play No. 13 North Carolina in the ACC Championship.
After its 38-31 win at Tulane, No. 20 UCF is the Group of 5 leader to earn a bid for a New Year’s Six bowl as the top-seeded conference champion , followed by Tulane’s #21.