The final College Football Playoff rankings will be revealed on Sunday after conference champions are crowned by Saturday night.
1. Oregon Ducks (12-0) | Last week: 1
Oregon is trying to go “wire-to-wire” in the No. 1 spot, and the Big Ten Championship will be a battle versus Penn State rather than a rematch versus Ohio State. Still, the Ducks will try to have the offensive balance they had in the October win over the Buckeyes, and it was great to see wide receiver Tez Johnson back last week.
2. Texas Longhorns (11-1) | Last week: 3 (+1)
Quinn Ewers wasn’t at his best on Saturday night in a 17-7 win over Texas A&M, but it was a difficult road environment—and Texas is rarely positioned in that they can bring in a top-tier quarterback like Arch Manning to change things up. If the offensive line doesn’t show better against Georgia than they did in the first meeting, Manning could see early action in the SEC Championship Game.
3. Penn State Nittany Lions (11-1) | Last week: 4 (+1)
Penn State probably didn’t expect to be playing for a conference title this weekend, but they now have a chance to potentially earn the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff with a win. Similar to Oregon, the Nittany Lions have a very balanced offense that includes multiple impact players, so Saturday should be a tremendous game.
4. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-1) | Last week: 5 (+1)
The argument to have Notre Dame lower than this has some merit considering their loss to Northern Illinois earlier this season, and they won’t be threatened by a loss this week as an independent. Looking ahead, defensive end RJ Oben emerging in the playoffs would be huge for the Fighting Irish.
5. Georgia Bulldogs (10-2) | Last week: 6 (+1)
Again, the Bulldogs dominated the first matchup against Texas despite three interceptions from Carson Beck—and star pass rusher Jalon Walker (3.0 sacks) led the way up front on defense. We’ll see if Georgia is drained a bit from the eight-overtime thriller against Georgia Tech last Friday night, though.
6. Tennessee Volunteers (10-2) | Last week: 7 (+1)
Tennessee fell behind 17-7 in the first quarter last week against Vanderbilt, but Nico Iamaleava tossed four touchdowns in an eventual 36-23 victory to make a final playoff statement. Also, the defense limited quarterback Diego Pavia to 149 total yards in the win, and they’re positioned to earn an at-large bid.
7. Ohio State Buckeyes (10-2) | Last week: 2 (-5)
The placement of Ohio State by the committee in tonight’s rankings will be intriguing, but they have a controversial one-point loss to Oregon (on the road) and the 13-10 defeat against Michigan (who has their number right now) on their resume. Perhaps the latest loss to the Wolverines will have the Buckeyes more committed to running the ball moving forward.
8. Indiana Hoosiers (11-1) | Last week: 9 (+1)
Some will make the case that Indiana should move down the rankings after Ohio State lost their second game, but the Hoosiers bounced back as well as anyone could have hoped—handling a 1-11 Purdue team, 66-0; and Kurtis Rourke threw for 349 yards and six touchdowns with much more time than he had against the Buckeyes.
9. Boise State Broncos (11-1) | Last week: 10 (+1)
Boise State has a legitimate chance to earn a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff depending on how things play out this weekend—but the first order of business is obviously beating UNLV on Friday night. Superstar running back Ashton Jeanty handled 37 touches last week and will surely be fed again with their season on the line.
10. SMU Mustangs (11-1) | Last week: NR
The Mustangs beating Clemson in the ACC Championship Game might be enough to have them leap Boise State and get a bye—but the debate will really get crazy if SMU loses a close game to create a larger grouping among the non-conference champions. Either way, the 12-team playoff only seems to have created more chaos in college football.