The top of the College Football Playoff rankings is about to get a shake-up, and Notre Dame is the reason why.
For weeks, the committee looked comfortable with the idea that Miami owned the No. 1 spot. That changed over the weekend when the Fighting Irish knocked off the top-ranked Hurricanes and forced a rethink at the very top of the board.
Miami’s loss may not send the Hurricanes tumbling as far as a typical defeat would. The committee has shown plenty of patience with quality losses, and there’s still a path for the ACC title favorites to land a first-round bye.
They could remain in the top five, and at worst the top six. Notre Dame’s win matters, though, especially because the Irish once trailed Miami by 21 points and still finished the job with a defense that shut down the late push.
That victory gives Notre Dame a much stronger case than it had a week ago. The Irish were sitting just inside the bubble because of a weak schedule, but now they can point to a top-35 slate and a win over the No. 1 team in the country.
Ohio State is another team headed for a major reset. The committee values head-to-head results, and it also takes injuries into account.
With Julian Sayin out, the preseason No. 1 Buckeyes have dropped their last two games, both losses to USC and Oregon.
Those two teams are set to rise in the rankings. Ohio State still has wins over Iowa and Indiana, both ranked, and that should keep the Buckeyes from falling too far.
Even so, the season may have slipped away.
Tennessee also looks ready to climb after the committee previously placed the Volunteers behind two-loss Alabama, despite Tennessee beating the Crimson Tide by 16 points. A 34-6 win over Kentucky should help correct that.
Kentucky, meanwhile, still has some things working in its favor despite the lopsided loss in Knoxville. The Wildcats’ strength of schedule ranks in the top five nationally, and they own wins over ranked LSU and South Carolina.
Texas made its own statement with a road win at ranked Missouri. Good Arch led the way with turnover-free football, and the Longhorns pulled out a two-touchdown victory that could push them past current No.
4 Indiana. Texas is now 4-0 against College Football Playoff ranked teams and also has a win over a common opponent with Ohio State, while Indiana’s strength of schedule looks far lighter by comparison.
In Other News...
Alabama May Be Giving Austin Mack A Huge Chance At Vanderbilt
Keelon Russells ankle injury has opened the door for Austin Mack, and Alabama appears willing to let the former five-star recruit take some meaningful snaps against Vanderbilt. With Russell banged up, head coach Kalen DeBoer said Mack could see the field in an effort to protect the starter for the games ahead, giving the Crimson Tide a chance to see what they have in a quarterback who has spent most of his time waiting behind the scenes.
For Mack, the timing matters. He has had limited playing time since arriving in Tuscaloosa, but this could be the kind of opportunity that changes the conversation around his future, especially with a possible transfer in the background. Vanderbilt may not be the biggest stage on Alabamas schedule, but it could be a valuable one for a quarterback still trying to show he can handle real game action. [Read more 🡒]
Alabamas Defensive Front Just Got A Boost Fans Have Been Waiting For
Devan Thompkins gave Alabama a timely jolt in the win at LSU, finishing with two sacks and snapping a drought that had stretched back to Week 3. It was the kind of interior push the Crimson Tide have been trying to rediscover, and it came in a game where the defense as a whole finally looked disruptive again, piling up four sacks for its best total since Week 5.
Terrance Greens return from injury helped make that happen. He made his presence felt with a sack of his own and steady work against the run, giving Alabamas defensive front a more complete look and drawing praise from the coaching staff for the way he changed the lines energy. For a unit that has been searching for consistency up front, Greens impact may have been just as important as the numbers beside Thompkins name. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Just Forced A Playoff Ranking Debate Fans Will Obsess Over
Alabamas win over LSU has done more than pad the rsum in November. It has reopened the kind of playoff-rankings debate that gets college football fans arguing all week, with analysts split on where the Crimson Tide should land when the next set of rankings comes out. Some see the victory as the kind of statement that can push Alabama as high as No. 3 or No. 4, while others think the committee could still leave the Tide closer to the middle of the top 10.
The messier part is what it means for Tennessee, because the comparison between the two teams is now impossible to ignore. Head-to-head results and strength of schedule both have a way of complicating the conversation, and Alabamas latest win only sharpened the question of how much weight the committee will give each factor. However it shakes out, this is the sort of ranking fight that could linger well beyond Tuesday night. [Read more 🡒]