The AP Top 25 and the College Football Playoff rankings rarely line up perfectly, but Week 11 made the gap impossible to miss.
That matters because the CFP board is the one that ultimately shapes the postseason picture - national seeds, home-field assignments and byes all flow from those rankings. So when the AP and the committee see the same teams differently, it is more than a cosmetic disagreement.
Alabama is one of the clearest examples. The Crimson Tide landed at No. 7 in the AP poll, but the committee pushed them all the way up to No.
- The selection group made its stance obvious, leaning hard on Alabama’s overall strength of record even after losses to Georgia and Tennessee.
AP voters were less impressed by what Alabama has shown lately, though they still weighed the close loss to Georgia, the convincing win over Kentucky that has aged well, and the dominant performance at LSU.
Notre Dame also split the two rankings, though in a different way. The Irish are No. 3 in the AP Top 25 and No. 5 in the CFP rankings.
Before last Saturday, Notre Dame had been No. 4 in the AP poll, and a four-point loss at BYU only dropped them two spots there. The committee, though, was much tougher on Notre Dame’s schedule, noting that the Irish had no wins against ranked opponents and placing them at No.
- Then came the win over No.
1 Miami, which forced a major adjustment and sent Notre Dame up seven spots in the committee’s eyes after that surge in strength of record.
Miami took a hit from both sides, but not the same one. The Hurricanes checked in at No. 5 in the AP poll and No. 7 in the CFP rankings.
The loss at Notre Dame and the injury to star wide receiver Malachi Toney were always going to hurt, but the committee had extra work to do because it also had to elevate Notre Dame and then place Miami behind the Irish. AP voters didn’t face that same balancing act, since they already had Notre Dame in the top five, so Miami’s slide on that ballot was less severe.
Indiana is another team where the committee and AP are looking at the same résumé and seeing different things. The Hoosiers are No. 6 in the AP poll, but they fell to No. 9 in the CFP rankings after sitting at No. 4 a week ago.
They didn’t even play, yet the movement around them and a fresh concern about strength of schedule changed the committee’s view. Indiana now gets a chance to answer that against USC on Saturday.
BYU’s situation is different again. Two losses - first at unranked UCF and then at undefeated, highly ranked Utah - created a tricky call for voters.
The committee kept the Cougars in the top ten at No. 10, ahead of reigning Big 12 champion Texas Tech, which is No. 12 in the CFP ranking and still outside the bubble. The AP poll, meanwhile, dropped BYU below the Red Raiders.
If Texas Tech keeps winning, that order could become a bigger issue down the line.
In Other News...
Texas Tech Suddenly Has A Running Back Problem Before Oklahoma State
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Ashton Ace Rowden, a true freshman, could be in line for a larger role if Dickey is unable to go, which would add another layer of uncertainty to a position group already stretched thin. For a Texas Tech offense trying to stay balanced, the availability of its backs may end up shaping how aggressive the Red Raiders can be against the Cowboys. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Techs NIL Push Just Turned Into A Big 12 Fight
Texas Techs aggressive use of NIL, the transfer portal and the courts has become part of its blueprint for trying to keep pace with the sports traditional heavyweights. The latest flashpoint came with quarterback Brendan Sorsby, whose significant NIL deal came despite NCAA ineligibility rulings, forcing the issue into the legal system and briefly opening the door for him to play under a temporary injunction.
What started as a roster-building strategy quickly spilled into conference politics, with other Big 12 members pushing back hard enough that the league filed a federal lawsuit against Texas Tech. The Red Raiders then stood down, but the episode left the program in a delicate spot inside its own conference, still trying to prove it can use every modern tool available without turning every advantage into a fight. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech Faces A Big 12 Reality Fans May Not Like
The College Football Playoffs move to 24 teams next season is already reshaping the way the Big 12 thinks about its own place in the sport, and the ripple effects could hit Texas Tech fans in a way they may not love. Josh Pate pointed out that with the playoff expanding, traditional conference championships may no longer carry the same weight they once did, especially as the Big 12 and the rest of the Power Four prepare to do away with their championship games next year.
For a league that has long sold itself on the drama of a title game and the clarity it brings to the race, that is a meaningful shift. Pate raised broader concerns about what all of this means for the future relevance of conferences and even the way schedules are built, and for Texas Tech it adds another layer of uncertainty to a landscape that is changing fast around it. [Read more 🡒]