The top 10 of the second set of College Football Playoff rankings looks a lot like the first.
The top five teams in the rankings were the same as a week ago as Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M, Alabama and Georgia kept their places.
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Texas Tech moved up from No. 8 to No. 6 after a 29-7 home win over BYU. The Cougars fell five spots to No. 12.
Miami beat Syracuse at home in Week 11 and moved up three spots in the rankings to No. 15. With losses by Virginia and Louisville, the Hurricanes are the top ACC team in the rankings. Yes, they jumped Georgia Tech even though the Yellow Jackets have one fewer loss than the Hurricanes and didn’t play in Week 11.
With Tech at No. 6, the three other power conferences have at least one team in the top six. In addition to Notre Dame, there are seven SEC teams, three Big 12 teams and three Big Ten teams ahead of Miami in the rankings.
But even though it’s a down season for the ACC, the conference is virtually guaranteed a spot in the College Football Playoff thanks to the 12-team bracket’s guarantee that the top five conference champions make the field. Miami is currently nine spots ahead of USF from the American Conference. The Bulls at No. 24 — who lost to Miami in Week 3 — are the highest non-power conference team in the rankings.
Here’s the College Football Playoff picture after Tuesday’s rankings. (Davis Long/Yahoo Sports)
Virginia lost at home to Wake Forest and fell five spots to No. 19. Louisville, which has the same 7-2 record as Miami and beat the Hurricanes, is at No. 20 after losing at home in overtime to Cal.
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Even though the committee didn’t keep the winner of that head-to-head matchup above the loser, they did that elsewhere in the rankings with teams that have the same records. Texas is a spot ahead of Oklahoma after beating the Sooners. BYU has one fewer loss than Utah and is ahead of the Utes in the rankings.
USC is also one spot ahead of Michigan after beating the Wolverines at home.
Thankfully, there’s plenty of time for this to shake out with three weeks remaining the regular season along with conference championship weekend. But the committee made it clear Tuesday night that it’s not always going to take head-to-head results as the ultimate arbiter between comparable teams.
1. Ohio State (9-0)
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2. Indiana (10-0)
3. Texas A&M (9-0)
4. Alabama (8-1)
5. Georgia (8-1)
6. Texas Tech (9-1)
7. Ole Miss (9-1)
8. Oregon (8-1)
9. Notre Dame (7-2)
10. Texas (7-2)
11. Oklahoma (7-2)
12. BYU (8-1)
13. Utah (7-2)
14. Vanderbilt (8-2)
15. Miami (7-2)
16. Georgia Tech (8-1)
17. USC (7-2)
18. Michigan (7-2)
19. Virginia (8-2)
20. Louisville (7-2)
21. Iowa (6-3)
22. Pitt (7-2)
23. Tennessee (6-3)
24. South Florida (7-2)
25. Cincinnati (7-2)