With Auburn losing, a hole was left vacant in the College Football Playoff top four. The top two shifted, with Miss. State and Oregon at first and second, respectively. The Ducks jumped Florida State for the second slot, with the Seminoles coming in third. TCU came in at No. 4, leaving Alabama static in fifth. Auburn fell out of the bracket all the way to No. 9.
Alabama is still on the outside looking in this week, but that could quickly change with a win over No. 1 Miss. State on Saturday.
Numerous teams can still dictate where they finish if they win out, and it’s interesting to watch what the selection committee regards as the most important criteria. Baylor beat TCU but the Horned Frogs still rank ahead of the Bears. Maybe head-to-head isn’t as much of a factor as strength of schedule.
Here are this week’s College Football Playoff rankings:
1. Mississippi State
2. Oregon
3. Florida State
4. TCU
5. Alabama
6. Arizona State
7. Baylor
8. Ohio State
9. Auburn
10. Mississippi
11. UCLA
12. Michigan State
13. Kansas State
14. Arizona
15. Georgia
16. Nebraska
17. LSU
18. Notre Dame
19. Clemson
20. Wisconsin
21. Duke
22. Georgia Tech
23. Utah
24. Texas A&M
25. Minnesota
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