The College Football Playoff selection committee’s No. 3 ranking was unchanged Tuesday night, with the top five ranked No. 1. No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Michigan and No. 4 TCU held steady as the only remaining undefeated teams in the nation, followed by No. 4. 5 Tennessee.
The Vols remain the committee’s highest-ranked single-loss team after a 66-24 win over unranked Missouri that kept them in playoff contention without winning a division title. Georgia State won the SEC East and will face No. 2. 6 LSU, the highest-ranked two-loss team, in the SEC championship game. If LSU wins the conference, it could make history by becoming the first two-defeat team to reach the CFP.
“The committee sees a disagreement with Georgia,” said selection committee chairman Boo Corrigan, who is also North Carolina’s athletic director.
Tennessee could become the fifth team to reach the CFP without winning a division title, and the third to join Ohio State in 2016 and Alabama in 2017. The SEC has placed multiple teams in the CFP twice — including last season when Georgia beat Alabama to win the national title.
Without a conference champion, the Vols will face greater scrutiny from the selection committee and will rely on impressive wins over Alabama and LSU to win the debate with the Power 5 conference champion.
USC (9-1) is now the highest-ranked team in the Pac-12 at No. 1. The two-game Ducks are No. 7 after Oregon lost to Washington on Saturday. 12. The Pac-12 has six teams ranked 25th in the CFP top 25. 23 Oregon, including two of the top 10 (USC and No. 10 Utah).
USC could secure a spot in Saturday’s championship game win over UCLA, while Oregon faces Utah in another game that will help determine the Pac-12 tournament contenders.
TCU’s 17-10 victory over Texas earned it a spot in the Big 12 championship game, but the four-loss Longhorns fell from No. 1. 18 of this week’s top 25 CFPs. It helped the Horned Frogs, no. No. 22 Oklahoma State is back in the rankings this week, giving TCU its second win over a top-ranked opponent, as well as a No. 22 opponent. 15 Kansas.
There are three more rankings, including the final top 25 released on December 25th. 4 Selection day. At this point in the season, no team ranks outside the committee’s top 10 and still becomes a CFP. The lowest were Michigan in 2015 and Oklahoma in 2019, both at ninth place.
Alabama, which has lost twice, is No. 1. No. 8 leads the week by one loss. 9 Clemson University, will rank No. 1. 13. North Carolina in the ACC championship game.
After a 38-31 win over Tulane, No. 20 UCF is the leader of the five-man group that earned its New Year’s Six bowl bid as the highest-ranked conference champion, followed by No. 20. 21 Turan.