New College Football Playoff Top 4 ahead of Conference Title Games
The College Football Playoff top four has changed for the first time in three weeks as Georgia joins the top group at No. 4 ahead of their SEC Championship game matchup against No. 1 Alabama.
Clemson and Notre Dame continue to hold at No. 2 and No. 3 respectively. The Tigers will face Pittsburgh Saturday night in the ACC Title Game, while Notre Dame is off.
Ohio State jumped four spots to No. 6 after crushing then No. 4 Michigan this past weekend. The move wasn’t enough however to jump Oklahoma, which sits at No. 5, just outside the playoff.
The Sooners will take on Texas this weekend in the Big 12 Championship.
"We spent a lot of time on that one [No. 6]. I understand the defensive efficiencies are there, but they really have a historic offense," committee chair Rob Mullens said of ranking the Sooners fifth.
Two potential scenarios that exist would be the possibility that George defeats Alabama and the Crimson Tide simply drop back to No. 4. That same situation could happen for Clemson as well if the Tigers were to lost to Pitt by a small margin.
The goal of the playoff is to get the best four teams into the playoffs and both a one-loss Alabama and a one-loss Clemson would have compelling arguments against both Oklahoma and Ohio State for the final spot.
Clemson has been in the top four for 22 releases of the playoff rankings, second only to Alabama's 25 releases. Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State are the only three teams to appear in all 29 sets of rankings released by the committee in the playoff era.
Selection Day is this coming Sunday, Dec. 2 -- the day after conference championship weekend.
2018
Week 1: #1 Alabama, #2 Clemson, #3 LSU, #4 Notre Dame
Week 2: #1 Alabama, #2 Clemson, #3 Notre Dame, #4 Michigan
Week 3: #1 Alabama, #2 Clemson, #3 Notre Dame, #4 Michigan
Week 4: #1 Alabama, #2 Clemson, #3 Notre Dame, #4 Michigan
Week 5: #1 Alabama, #2 Clemson, #3 Notre Dame, #4 Georgia
2017
Week 1: #1 Georgia, #2 Alabama, #3 Notre Dame, #4 Clemson
Week 2: #1 Georgia, #2 Alabama, #3 Notre Dame, #4 Clemson
Week 3: #1 Alabama, #2 Clemson, #3 Miami, #4 Oklahoma
Week 4: #1 Alabama, #2 Miami, #3 Clemson, #4 Oklahoma
Week 5: #1 Clemson, #2 Auburn, #3 Oklahoma, #4 Wisconsin
Selection Day: #1 Clemson, #2 Oklahoma, #3 Georgia, #4 Alabama
2016
Week 1: #1 Alabama, #2 Clemson, #3 Michigan, #4 Texas A&M
Week 2:#1 Alabama, #2 Clemson, #3 Michigan, #4 Washington
Week 3: #1 Alabama, #2 Ohio State, #3 Michigan, #4 Clemson
Week 4: #1 Alabama, #2 Ohio State, #3 Michigan, #4 Clemson
Selection Day: #1 Alabama, #2 Ohio State, #3 Clemson, #4 Washington
2015
Week 1: #1 Clemson, #2 LSU, #3 Ohio State, #4 Alabama
Week 2: #1 Clemson, #2 Alabama, #3 Ohio State, #4 Notre Dame
Week 3: #1 Clemson, #2 Alabama, #3 Ohio State, #4 Notre Dame
Week 4: #1 Clemson, #2 Alabama, #3 Oklahoma, #4 Iowa
Week 5: #1 Clemson, #2 Alabama, #3 Oklahoma, #4 Iowa
Selection Day: #1 Clemson, #2 Alabama, #3 Michigan State, #4 Oklahoma
2014
Week 1: #1 Mississippi State, #2 Florida State, #3 Auburn, #4 Ole Miss
Week 2: #1 Mississippi State, #2 Florida State, #3 Auburn, #4 Oregon
Week 3: #1 Mississippi State, #2 Oregon, #3 Florida State, #4 TCU
Week 4: #1 Alabama, #2 Oregon, #3 Florida State, #4 Mississippi State
Week 5: #1 Alabama, #2 Oregon, #3 Florida State, #4 Mississippi State
Week 6: #1 Alabama, #2 Oregon, #3 TCU, #4 Florida State
Selection Day: #1 Alabama, #2 Oregon, #3 Florida State, #4 Ohio State
College Football Playoff Rankings
#1 Alabama (12-0) vs #4 Georgia (11-1)
#2 Clemson (12-0) vs #3 Notre Dame (12-0)
Outside looking in:
5. Oklahoma (11-1)
6. Ohio State (11-1)
7. Michigan (10-2)
8. UCF (11-0)
9. Florida (9-3)
10. LSU (9-3)
11. Washington (9-3)
12. Penn State (9-3)
13. Washington State (10-2)
14. Texas (9-3)
15. Kentucky (9-3)
16. West Virginia (8-3)
17. Utah (9-3)
18. Mississippi State (8-4)
19. Texas A&M (8-4)
20. Syracuse (9-3)
21. Northwestern (8-4)
22. Boise State (10-2)
23. Iowa State (7-4)
24. Missouri (8-4)
25. Fresno State (10-2)