Arya News - Alabama is No. 9 and Notre Dame is now No. 10 even though both teams won in Week 14. That move could be significant, especially if Alabama loses to Georgia.
Texas A&M fell four spots from No. 3 to No. 7 in the next-to-last College Football Playoff rankings after the Aggies" loss to Texas.
The Aggies are still safely in the field and in line to host a first-round game. Behind A&M, Notre Dame dropped a spot to No. 10 after beating Stanford while Alabama moved up to No. 9 with its win over Auburn.
Both Ohio State and Indiana stayed in their spots at the top of the rankings. Georgia, Texas Tech, Oregon and Ole Miss all moved up a spot after the Aggies" loss. Ole Miss was not penalized for the departure of Lane Kiffin to LSU . The committee has the ability to factor in a coach or player"s absence into its rankings. It did not do that Tuesday night and it"s unlikely that it would happen in the final rankings on Sunday, either.
Oklahoma held steady at No. 8 ahead of Alabama and Notre Dame. The swap of the Crimson Tide and Irish may not look significant, but it could end up keeping the Crimson Tide in the playoff.
Alabama faces Georgia in the SEC title game on Saturday. If Georgia beats the Tide in a relatively close game, Alabama could only fall a spot to No. 10. At the moment, Notre Dame would be the final at-large team into the field with teams from the ACC, American and Sun Belt ranked outside the top 10.
James Madison"s playoff shot
The Dukes have a realistic path to the College Football Playoff. James Madison (11-1) made its playoff rankings debut on Tuesday night at No. 25. If JMU beats Troy on Friday night in the Sun Belt title game and 7-5 Duke takes down No. 17 Virginia, it"s very plausible that JMU would make the playoff.
How? The top five conference champions get into the field. It"s hard to see how the committee would rank a five-loss Duke team ahead of a one-loss James Madison team.
JMU is a 23.5-point favorite against Troy. Duke is a 3.5-point underdog.
The American is all but guaranteed a team in the playoff. Tulane is at No. 20 and North Texas is at No. 24. The Green Wave host the Mean Green for the conference title Friday night. The winner should stay ahead of James Madison and could even end up ahead of the winner of the ACC title game.
How the final at-large berths could shake out
Right now, it seems unlikely that No. 12 Miami, No. 13 Texas, No. 14 Vanderbilt and No. 15 Utah will make the field. None of those four teams play on conference championship weekend.
CFP selection committee chair Hunter Yurachek said that the committee has the ability to re-rank idle teams in the final set of rankings based on the outcome of conference championship games, but there doesn"t appear to be a title game that would directly affect one of those four teams enough to make them jump significantly.
No. 11 BYU"s path into the playoff is simple. If the Cougars beat Texas Tech in the Big 12 title game, BYU is in the playoff. Tech is probably in the playoff in that scenario too. It"s unlikely the Red Raiders would fall more than the four spots Texas A&M dropped with its loss to Texas.
Georgia is a virtual lock too, even if it loses to Alabama. Oregon, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Oklahoma have all held steady in the top 10 and they aren"t playing this weekend either. They"re in the playoff field.
That leaves Alabama and Notre Dame on the proverbial bubble. Both teams will be rooting for BYU to lose on Saturday.
Could Alabama drop out of the playoff with a loss to Georgia? Maybe. SMU dropped two spots from No. 8 to No. 10 after losing to Clemson in the ACC title game a year ago. However, the Mustangs still got in the playoff field as the final at-large team and lost to a team the committee had ranked at No. 17. Georgia is a top-five team.
A two-spot drop for Alabama would put them at No. 11 and out of the playoff with either Notre Dame or Miami taking the final at-large spot in the field based on the outcome of the Big 12 title game.
College Football Playoff rankings
1. Ohio State (12-0)
2. Indiana (12-0)
3. Georgia (11-1)
4. Texas Tech (11-1)
5. Oregon (11-1)
6. Ole Miss (11-1)
7. Texas A&M (11-1)
8. Oklahoma (10-2)
9. Alabama (10-2)
10. Notre Dame (10-2)
11. BYU (11-1)
12. Miami (10-2)
13. Texas (9-3)
14. Vanderbilt (10-2)
15. Utah (10-2)
16. USC (9-3)
17. Virginia (10-2)
18. Arizona (9-3)
19. Michigan (9-3)
20. Tulane (10-2)
21. Houston (9-3)
22. Georgia Tech (9-3)
23. Iowa (8-4)
24. North Texas (11-1)
25. James Madison (11-1)