After their huge win at Tuscaloosa, the LSU Tigers rise to the No. 1 spot in this week’s college football power rankings. Minnesota also continues their rise up the ranks.
1. LSU Tigers (9-0) | Last week: 3 (+2)
LSU now has four top-ten wins this season (Texas, Florida, Auburn, and Alabama), as Coach Orgeron has gotten his guys to take care of business every Saturday. Given how impressive Joe Burrow and the offense has looked this season, paired with the Tigers’ resume, they should be in the top spot when the latest CFP Rankings are released tonight. Running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire showed that he has the total package and is one of the best players in the nation with his 180 yards and four total touchdowns in the victory over Bama.
2. Clemson Tigers (10-0) | Last week: 1 (-1)
Clemson is clearly going to get into the top four this week after Penn State’s loss, but Dabo Swinney is still going to get his players to have an edge moving forward following the disrespect they’ve gotten despite a 10-0 start to the season. The Tigers probably badly wanted a shutout to send a message, but this Saturday versus a 7-2 Wake Forest team should be more of a challenge.
3. Ohio State Buckeyes (9-0) | Last week: 4 (+1)
Ohio State might have had last year’s narrow victory against Maryland in mind this time around, and they completely dominated in all phases of the game, as has been the norm for them this season. The status of star defensive end Chase Young, who is currently being investigated for a potential NCAA violation, is obviously huge for the Buckeyes’ title hopes.
4. Alabama Crimson Tide (8-1) | Last week: 2 (-2)
The Crimson Tide should not drop too far in the rankings, and they should arguably be an unquestioned top-four team despite their first loss of the season. Alabama obviously would have loved to win the SEC and cannot afford another loss, but they might actually be in a fine position for the Playoff by just winning out. The early turnover certainly hurt, and the Crimson Tide outscored the Tigers 28-13 in the second half of the instant classic. Tua Tagovailoa showed that his team is never out of it with the big-play ability he has with his talented receivers.
5. Georgia Bulldogs (8-1) | Last week: 6 (+1)
A late goal-line stand preserved the shutout victory over Missouri for the Bulldogs, and Kirby Smart’s defense has been playing with a ton of energy over the last few weeks. Since the stunning loss to South Carolina a month ago, Georgia has a big win over Florida and two shutouts (against Kentucky and Mizzou). The only concern with Georgia is probably their receiver play, but Lawrence Cager is expected to be fine after leaving last Saturday, and George Pickens is emerging on the outside.
6. Minnesota Golden Gophers (9-0) | Last week: 10 (+4)
We had Minnesota much higher than the Committee did last week, and we’ll see if they actually get enough respect to move into the bubble area of the CFP Rankings tonight. With a 9-0 mark and after beating the No. 4 team in the country, there’s a case for the Gophers being even ahead of Georgia. Minnesota has NFL-caliber weapons on the outside, and playmaking safety Antoine Winfield Jr. leads the defense.
7. Oregon Ducks (8-1) | Last week: 7
Oregon had off last week, and it’ll be interesting to see where they land tonight. They’re expected to be in the No. 6 or No. 7 spot, depending on what the Committee does with Minnesota’s win over Penn State. The Ducks are huge favorites against Arizona this Saturday night.
8. Baylor Bears (9-0) | Last week: 8
It took a comeback and then a competitive triple overtime to get it done, but Baylor improved to 9-0. The Bears have had some struggles offensively in the last two games, but they have shown to have a potent unit on that side of the ball, and the defense is playing well. Baylor’s CFP hopes undoubtedly ride on this Saturday versus Oklahoma.
9. Oklahoma Sooners (8-1) | Last week: 9
The Sooners looked to be in complete control at home against Iowa State, but the Cyclones scored 20 fourth-quarter points to put OU on the ropes. Jalen Hurts and the offense are outstanding, but the Committee cannot be liking what they’ve seen from the defense over the past two games. Perhaps this Saturday night in Waco will get the defense back closer to the level it was at a few weeks back.
10. Penn State (8-1) | Last week: 5 (-5)
Penn State can be a spot or two higher, and they still have two ranked matchups coming up in the next two weeks (vs. Indiana and at Ohio State) to climb back up the rankings. Journey Brown and the Nittany Lions’ rushing attack did serious damage in the loss to Minnesota, but they threw the ball 43 times and had three interceptions. They’ll look to get everything cleaned up as ranked Big Ten play continues for them this weekend.
Wait they don’t do playoff rankings every week do they?
Yup they do. When the rankings start in November they vote and re-rank every week. Released every Tuesday night.