We knew that tonight's third college football playoff rankings would be the most interesting due to both Alabama and Texas losing this past weekend in pivotal games. The biggest reason to watch was to see how the committee was going to rank the two loss teams comparing Alabama, Oklahoma, and Notre Dame.
The Sooners were the winners of the week moving up to the eighth spot passing up Notre Dame in the rankings. Obviously, a close win over Alabama on the road carries way more weight than a blowout win over PItt on the road. Speaking on the Panthers seeing what the committee thought about them after the home loss with the quick drop from the Top 25.
The committee loves Miami despite their path to play in the ACC Championship Game is a mess unlikely one. If the Canes do beat Pitt handily in the final weekend of the regular season I do wonder if the head to head win over Notre Dame in week one will come into play at all.
Before tonight's rankings there were many talking about Texas possibly being a team that could make the playoff with three losses if they beat Texas A&M. However, the way the Longhorns dropped after the blowout loss in Athens it does not appear to be a path for them to make this year's playoff field.
Alabama also took a large tumble from the four spots but still control their own destiny as a playoff at large team and still in the mix to play in the SEC Championship game as well.
The committee also seems very committed to making sure the best team in the American Conference be the G6 representative to make the playoff field. Tulane is the only team out of the G6 replacing South Florida who lost to Navy this past weekend. It is interesting that Tulane is currently higher than the Midshipmen having the much more impressive win this past weekend. It is going to be a wild end to the American Conference season, and the conference championship game will be must see. It has to be a little disheartening for James Madison to know they are unlikely to pass the American Champion even if they end the season 12-1.