Georgia overtakes Ohio State; Michigan, FSU round out CFP top 4،
Georgia overtook Ohio State for the top spot in the latest College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday night, after back-to-back wins against top-25 opponents.
The Bulldogs are coming off wins against No. 13 Ole Miss (52-17) last weekend and No. 9 Missouri (30-21) on Nov. 4, bolstering a schedule that lacked quality wins. They will have an opportunity to improve their schedule Saturday when they take on No. 18 Tennessee in Knoxville.
The Buckeyes fell to No. 2, trading places with Georgia. They have two more top-25 wins — against Notre Dame and Penn State — enough to keep them ahead of rival Michigan.
“[Georgia] showed their dominance on offense and defense against a very strong Mississippi offense,” CFP President Boo Corrigan said on ESPN’s rankings show Tuesday night. team this week.
The Wolverines remained No. 3 after their first top-25 win of the season, 24-15 over Penn State; the Nittany Lions fell two spots to 12th.
Florida State remained at No. 4 after a hard-fought victory over rival Miami. Some thought Washington could leapfrog the Seminoles because it has three top-25 wins after Saturday’s 35-28 triumph over No. 22 Utah, compared to one for the Seminoles (a Week 1 victory over No. °15 LSU). But the Huskies remained at No. 5.
“Florida State, very good offensively, was very good defensively,” Corrigan said. “Don’t underestimate the Miami-Florida State rivalry either and it’s been going on for years. … We thought Florida State was the dominant team. [in the game]”.
There was no change in the following three spots: Oregon is No. 6, Texas is No. 7 and Alabama is No. 8. Missouri moved up five spots to No. 9 after a dominant 36-7 victory over the Vols, and Louisville rounded out the top 10. The Cardinals play at Miami on Saturday and a win clinches a spot in the championship game of the ACC against Florida State.
Iowa was the biggest player, moving from No. 22 to No. 16 this week. The Hawkeyes have no wins in the top 25, the worst statistical offense in college football and yet are 8-2. A win Saturday against Illinois will clinch the Big Ten West division title and a berth in the conference championship game.
It remains to be seen who plays Iowa.
It doesn’t matter at this point whether Ohio State or Michigan is higher ranked, since both teams will play in Ann Arbor on November 25. But before their rivalry game, Ohio State will host Minnesota on Saturday and Michigan will play at Maryland. For now, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh is suspended for both games, but he has an injunction hearing scheduled for Friday to plead his case and get the suspension lifted.
He said at his news conference earlier this week that he planned to speak at the hearing.
“I look forward to this opportunity – due process,” Harbaugh said. “I’m not looking for special treatment, or a popularity contest, I’m just looking for the merit of the case.”
Tulane remained the only ranked Group 5 team this week, at No. 24. No new teams entered the rankings.
