Ohio State and Miami tumble in College Football Playoff penultimate rankings
By Wayne Sterling, CNN
(CNN) — Buckeye and Hurricane fans must have known this moment was coming as the College Football Playoff (CFP) comes into focus ahead of conference championship week.
After suffering shocking upsets to unranked opponents on Saturday, Ohio State and Miami dropped in the penultimate CFP rankings, which were revealed Tuesday.
Ohio State fell four spots to No. 6 after archrival Michigan topped the Buckeyes 13-10, knocking the OSU out of Saturday’s Big Ten championship game.
As a result of Ohio State’s loss, Texas is the new No. 2, followed by Penn State, Notre Dame, and Georgia.
Miami plunged six spots from No. 6 to No. 12 after blowing a 21-0 lead and losing to Syracuse 42-38, costing the Hurricanes a chance to play in the ACC title game on Saturday.
After winning their first five ACC games, Miami lost two of its final three conference contests to unranked teams.
Tennessee comes in at No. 7, followed by SMU, Indiana, Boise State and Alabama.
Since the Crimson Tide is ranked one spot higher than Miami and both teams’ seasons are done, the Hurricanes appear destined to come up just short of the 12-team playoff while Alabama currently occupies the last at-large berth.
“Any team that is not playing right now we don’t have a data point to rearrange where we have those teams ranked. So that is set in terms of how we see them going into the final week of championship week. There’s nothing that’s going to change for us to evaluate them any differently then we have now,” CFP selection committee chair Warde Manuel said on ESPN.
“Alabama is 3-1 against current top 25 teams and Miami is 0-1. Alabama is 6-1 against teams above .500 and Miami is 4-2,” he added. “In the last three games, Miami has lost twice. So for us, in evaluating their body of work, we felt that Alabama got the edge over Miami.”
Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich wasn’t pleased with the committee’s decision.
“Really ?? ….what put Bama over the top of Miami for the last spot in is that Miami went 1-2 in their last 3 games (by an average of 4.5 pts, to a ranked Syracuse and GT team that just took UGA to 8OT),” he posted on X Tuesday. “Bama went 2-1 (to 5-7 Auburn, destroyed by OU, and beat FCS Mercer).”
The undefeated Oregon Ducks remain No. 1 for the fifth consecutive week.
Under the new CFP format, the four-highest ranked conference champions will receive a first-round bye and advance to the quarterfinals.
The fifth conference winner will be seeded where it is ranked, if the team is in the top 12. If the champion is outside the top 12, then that team will be slotted at No. 12.
The projected first-round matchups based on the latest rankings are: No. 12 Arizona State at No. 5 Penn State; No. 11 Alabama at No. 6 Notre Dame; No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Georgia and No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8. Ohio State.
Oregon, Texas, SMU and Boise State would have a bye as things stand.
But with seven of the 12 teams currently in the bracket playing in a conference championship game this weekend, those rankings and matchups are almost certain to change again.
The CFP selection committee will release its final rankings and the full playoff field on Sunday.
Conference championship week
Many conference champions will be crowned later this week.
The Big 12, SEC, Big Ten and ACC title games are set for Saturday, while the Mountain West contest is on Friday.
No. 16 Iowa State (10-2) takes on No. 15 Arizona State (10-2) for the Big 12 title at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Both schools went 7-2 in conference play and lost to Texas Tech.
No. 5 Georgia (10-2) faces off against No. 2 Texas (11-1) in the SEC championship tilt at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The Bulldogs handed the Longhorns their only loss this season, downing Texas 30-15 on the road on October 19.
No. 1 Oregon (12-0) plays No. 3 Penn State (11-1) in the Big Ten title game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Oregon is appearing in the Big Ten championship in its first year in the conference. Penn State’s only loss was to the Buckeyes 20-13 on November 2. The Ducks beat Ohio State 32-31 on October 12.
In its first year in the ACC, No. 8 SMU (11-1) squares off against No. 17 Clemson (9-3) for the conference title at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. SMU finished 8-0 in the ACC; Clemson was 7-1.
No. 10 Boise State (11-1) goes head-to-head with No. 20 UNLV (10-2) in the Mountain West championship game at Albertsons Stadium in Boise, Idaho. Boise State looks to beat UNLV for the second time this season. The Broncos defeated the Rebels 29-24 on October 25.
CNN’s Kevin Dotson and David Close contributed to this report.
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