Current:Home > MarketsCollege Football Playoff rankings winners and losers: Top five, Liberty get good news -ProsperityStream Academy
College Football Playoff rankings winners and losers: Top five, Liberty get good news
View
Date:2025-04-11 23:22:54
The stage has been set. With conference championships to come, the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings continue to center on the eight teams with any hope of reaching the national semifinals.
Now we wait.
No. 1 Georgia plays No. 8 Alabama for the SEC championship. No. 3 Washington has a rematch with No. 5 Oregon to decide the final Pac-12 championship. No. 2 Michigan plays No. 16 Iowa to decide the Big Ten. No. 4 Florida State looks to win the ACC and complete an unbeaten regular season against No. 14 Louisville.
At some point after midnight on Sunday, we'll know exactly what teams the committee will unveil atop the final rankings. Barring an unexpected barrage of upsets, the playoff will put forth perhaps the most star-studded, accomplished field in the history of the four-team format.
Here are the winners and losers from the second-to-last playoff rankings of the year:
Winners
The top five (and No. 8)
While the race for the national semifinals does go eight teams deep, only six members of this elite group can say the following: win and we're in. This begins with Georgia, Michigan, Washington and Florida State, presenting the committee with the chance to put forth an undefeated-only playoff field. Oregon is also in with a win against the Huskies. But you can't make the same case for No. 6 Ohio State and No. 7 Texas, which will need help to crack the top four — the Buckeyes in particular. Then there's No. 8 Alabama, which didn't budge in the rankings after a miraculous Iron Bowl win against Auburn and can make a late-in-the-day leap with an SEC championship.
Liberty
That SMU didn't land in the rankings despite completing an unbeaten run through American play qualifies as good news for No. 24 Liberty. It's been a banner, borderline unforgettable year under new coach Jamey Chadwell, who inherited one heck of a foundation from current Auburn coach Hugh Freeze and led the Flames to a perfect march into the Conference USA championship game against New Mexico State. Beating the Aggies for the second time this season would move the needle for the committee, especially after New Mexico State went into Auburn this month and dealt Freeze's new team an epically embarrassing 21-point defeat. But don't look for the good news to continue: Liberty won't move ahead of Tulane should the Green Wave take home another AAC crown and will almost certainly be leapfrogged in the final rankings by SMU should the Mustangs score the win.
BOWL PROJECTIONS: Michigan moves up into playoff position
PLAYOFF SCENARIOS: How chaos could play out in Week 14
Missouri
After capping the year with a rout of Arkansas, the only thing Missouri can do now is wait to see how the committee maps out the New Year's Six. In specific, the Tigers are keeping tabs on how they compare to one team in particular, Mississippi, since the Rebels are the other two-loss SEC team in the mix to join the loser of Georgia and Alabama in one of these major bowls. Good news: Missouri landed at No. 9 for the third week in a row while the Rebels moved up two spots to No. 11. Barring a late change of heart from the committee, the Tigers will find a home in the New Year's Six slate.
Losers
The Group of Five
The committee continues to include No. 21 Tennessee, for some reason, has brought No. 23 Clemson back into the rankings and placed Kansas State at No. 25 after the Wildcats' defensive meltdown in a loss to Iowa State. (That they stayed in the rankings is more good news for Missouri.) Doing so has come at the cost of overlooking a number of deserving teams from the Group of Five, beginning with SMU. Other teams with an argument include Toledo, which lost a close one to Illinois in September but has been rolling since, and Troy, winners of nine in a row.
veryGood! (8)
Related
- Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
- A Crisis Of Water And Power On The Colorado River
- Heat wave sweeping across U.S. strains power grid: People weren't ready for this heat
- Global Warming Can Set The Stage for Deadly Tornadoes
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- Thousands of Amazon Shoppers Love These Comfortable Bralettes— Get the Set on Sale for Up to 50% Off
- 12-year-old girl charged in acid attack against 11-year-old at Detroit park
- Moderna's COVID vaccine gambit: Hike the price, offer free doses for uninsured
- Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
- Colorado’s Suburban Firestorm Shows the Threat of Climate-Driven Wildfires is Moving Into Unusual Seasons and Landscapes
Ranking
- Sonya Massey's father decries possible release of former deputy charged with her death
- While The Fate Of The CFPB Is In Limbo, The Agency Is Cracking Down On Junk Fees
- Baltimore Continues Incinerating Trash, Despite Opposition from its New Mayor and City Council
- How the Race for Renewable Energy is Reshaping Global Politics
- Stamford Road collision sends motorcyclist flying; driver arrested
- Vinyl records outsell CDs for the first time since 1987
- Accused Pentagon leaker appeals pretrial detention order, citing Trump's release
- Small plane crashes into Santa Fe home, killing at least 1
Recommendation
Meet first time Grammy nominee Charley Crockett
Dave Grohl's Daughter Violet Joins Dad Onstage at Foo Fighters' Show at Glastonbury Festival
In Pennsylvania’s Hotly Contested 17th Congressional District, Climate Change Takes a Backseat to Jobs and Economic Development
How Taylor Swift's Cruel Summer Became the Song of the Season 4 Years After Its Release
NFL Week 15 picks straight up and against spread: Bills, Lions put No. 1 seed hopes on line
Colorado’s Suburban Firestorm Shows the Threat of Climate-Driven Wildfires is Moving Into Unusual Seasons and Landscapes
Baltimore Aspires to ‘Zero Waste’ But Recycles Only a Tiny Fraction of its Residential Plastic
The Biden Administration’s Embrace of Environmental Justice Has Made Wary Activists Willing to Believe