Georgia Takes No. 1, Ohio State Falls to No. 20
The committee's second rankings, released Tuesday, November 10, reward Georgia's 42-7 rout at Ole Miss and drop Indiana five places. The projected bracket now runs through Athens.
The bracket is a snapshot. November still gets a vote.
Georgia is the committee's new No. 1, and it isn't close: a 42-7 win at Ole Miss moved the Bulldogs past Miami in the College Football Playoff rankings, released Tuesday, November 10. [College Football Playoff rankings, November 10 (full Top 25)]
The top four are Georgia (8-1), Utah (9-0), Alabama (7-2) and UCLA (9-0), the seeds that would take first-round byes if the season ended today. Notre Dame jumps six spots to No. 5; Indiana falls five to No. 9. [College Football Playoff rankings, November 10 (full Top 25)]
The full 25: Georgia, Utah, Alabama, UCLA and Notre Dame lead, then Texas, Miami (8-1), Tennessee (7-2), Indiana (8-1) and BYU (7-2). Kentucky is 11th, ahead of Texas Tech, Wake Forest, Houston and Iowa. Oregon (6-3) sits 16th, South Carolina (6-3) 17th and USC (7-2) 18th, with Ole Miss (6-3), Ohio State (6-3), LSU (6-3), Missouri, Arizona (7-2), Boise State (8-1) and Oklahoma State (6-3) completing the list. [College Football Playoff rankings, November 10 (full Top 25)]
Indiana's slide is the committee's loudest statement. The Hoosiers are 8-1, and ESPN's numbers now put their strength of schedule at No. 42 in the FBS. The committee priced the schedule, not the record, and Indiana's next test is USC, ranked 18th. [Indiana drops in CFP rankings (IndyStar)]
Ohio State's problem is arithmetic. At 6-3 and No. 20, the Buckeyes have no at-large margin left: the seven at-large bids go to the highest-ranked teams that don't win their conferences, and 19 teams stand in front of them. Their only clean path is the Big Ten title. [College Football Playoff rankings, November 10 (full Top 25)]
The mechanics matter from here. The 12-team field takes the five highest-ranked conference champions plus seven at-large teams, and the top four seeds get first-round byes. Boise State, at No. 24, is the only Group of Six program in the 25, which makes the Broncos the current holder of that fifth champion's seat. [Indiana drops in CFP rankings (IndyStar)]
Nine SEC teams sit in the 25, and five — Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Tennessee and Kentucky — would make the field if the season ended today. It doesn't. The committee releases its third rankings on Tuesday, November 17, and the final field on Sunday, December 6. [CFP rankings: Georgia takes No. 1 spot from Miami]
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A little more perspective.
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