The College Football Playoff Committee will only release two more sets of rankings before the big unveil of the first-ever 12-team playoff field on Sunday, December 8.
After a Week 12 that saw several notable finishes — led by undefeated BYU losing to Kansas and Georgia handling Tennessee at home — many fans were curious as to how the College Football Playoff committee would handle its rankings this week.
How far would Georgia climb? How far would Tennessee drop? What would the committee do with teams like Arizona State and South Carolina that just came away with ranked wins? How many SEC teams would stay within striking distance of the 12-team field? What about the ACC and Big 12 and its contenders?
We now have those answers, at least for this week.
Here's a look at the College Football Playoff Rankings heading into Week 13:
Rank | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
1 | Oregon | 11-0 |
2 | Ohio State | 9-1 |
3 | Texas | 9-1 |
4 | Penn State | 9-1 |
5 | Indiana | 10-0 |
6 | Notre Dame | 9-1 |
7 | Alabama | 8-2 |
8 | Miami | 9-1 |
9 | Ole Miss | 8-2 |
10 | Georgia | 8-2 |
11 | Tennessee | 8-2 |
12 | Boise State | 9-1 |
13 | SMU | 9-1 |
14 | BYU | 9-1 |
15 | Texas A&M | 8-2 |
16 | Colorado | 8-2 |
17 | Clemson | 8-2 |
18 | South Carolina | 7-3 |
19 | Army | 10-0 |
20 | Tulane | 9-2 |
21 | Arizona State | 8-2 |
22 | Iowa State | 8-2 |
23 | Missouri | 7-3 |
24 | UNLV | 8-2 |
25 | Illinois | 7-3 |
Of course, many college football fans were quick to point out the inconsistencies of the playoff committee.
First of all, the College Football Playoff committee elected to jump Alabama over Miami for beating Mercer. The Hurricanes were on a bye week and, yet, they dropped, for absolutely no reason other than brand bias.
Hilarious: @CFBPlayoff selection committee jumped Alabama over Miami in rankings after Bama beat Mercer 52-7, while Miami didn't play
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) November 20, 2024
It's not hard to see that the CFP committee has a clear bias.
CFP Agenda for the next 3 weeks!
— B (@GoBucks5240) November 20, 2024
⬜️ Checks + Wires are received by ESPN/ CFB talking heads as they find ways to discuss 2-3 loss SEC teams getting into the playoffs over more deserving teams because IT JUST MEANS MORE in an SEC gauntlet 😤
⬜️ SEC fans will say the 8th best SEC…
Alabama beating Mercer must have been huge for them to jump Miami. Committee really values that Bears program and their impressive 20 point loss to Samford.
— Jay Jackson (@mattyjay06) November 20, 2024
Many fans argue that South Carolina should be ranked higher than No. 18. The Gamecocks have wins over two Top-25 teams — Texas A&M (15) and Missouri (23) — but it's clear that their record (7-3) is what's holding them back. They'll close out the season with Clemson on the road and an opportunity to finish 2024 with a 9-3 record.
Along those same lines, one fan pointed out the bad losses suffered by Colorado and said they believe the winner of Clemson-South Carolina deserves a spot in the College Football Playoff. Honestly, that probably won't be enough for either team to nab one of the at-large bids.
I understand the Hype around Colorado. But they lost to two unranked teams. South Carolina destroyed TAMU. BYU. SMU. Boise State? Whoever wins Clemson vs South Carolina deserves a spot. Period.
— Jason B McSwain (@jasonbmcswain) November 20, 2024
The commitee's inconsistencies do continue to be a harping point for fans. One of the biggest examples? The committee has valued head-to-head matchups in how it ranked all of the SEC teams. However, it dropped BYU below SMU, though the Cougars beat the Mustangs earlier this season.
BYU is below SMU... Why exactly?
— CEO of Crazy Bitches (@oneofmyturns169) November 20, 2024
We'll have another set of data to look at after this Saturday and it will be interesting to see what happens as conference championship races heat up.