Ohio State maintained their lead in the second College Football Playoff rankings, holding off a challenge from Georgia, the two-time defending national champion. Can the Buckeyes hold on until the first Saturday in December? Despite trailing at halftime and nearly falling down by two possessions early in the third quarter, the Buckeyes earned the kind of win against Rutgers that tends to move the needle with the playoff selection committee. Rutgers is a Power Five opponent, and the Scarlet Knights are undefeated.
However, that victory was not as stunning as Georgia’s 30-21 triumph over Missouri, which moved the Bulldogs closer to Ohio State. Given how Georgia plays No. 9 Mississippi and No. 13 Tennessee before finishing the month against Georgia Tech, which might be bowl eligible by then, that gap could tighten or disappear entirely.
The trump card for Ohio State is their rivalry with No. 3 Michigan. Even if Georgia advances in the following two weeks, a win in Ann Arbour would be enough to return the Buckeyes to first place. Unless, of course, the Bulldogs finish another perfect regular season by defeating Alabama in the SEC championship game the following Saturday. The Buckeyes and Bulldogs are the top victors and losers from Tuesday’s playoff rankings:
Winners
Ohio State
The committee has a soft spot for the Buckeyes. There’s no real reason not to: Ohio State has been reinvented with a defense-first approach, fueled by the return of running back TreVeyon Henderson, and has won six games against teams with a winning record. While Notre Dame dropped to No. 20 after falling to Clemson, the Buckeyes have an excellent two-game sweep of the Fighting Irish and Penn State. There’s reason to believe Georgia will eventually pull up to No. 1, but there’s no compelling reason to move the Buckeyes down a notch at this point.
Tulane
With Air Force losing by 20 points to Army, No. 23 Tulane is the only Group of Five school in the playoff rankings and the clear favourite to return to the New Year’s Six with another American Athletic title. Things might become tricky if the Green Wave loses a game in November, allowing unbeaten Liberty, Toledo, or the eventual Mountain West champion to go to the front of the queue.
Another factor to consider is that James Madison is still lobbying the NCAA to change a provision that prevents the Dukes from competing in the postseason as a transitional member of the Bowl Subdivision. If successful, James Madison might challenge Tulane for first place.
Missouri
The Tigers dropped two positions to No. 14 and are a legitimate candidate for the New Year’s Six coming into their game against Tennessee on Saturday. Given how the committee has given Missouri some leeway through two rankings, a win over the Volunteers could push the Tigers even closer to the top 10 and set up a scenario in which they can clinch a 10-win regular season and finish inside the final top 12 with wins over Florida and Arkansas to end November.
Losers
Oklahoma
The Sooners didn’t just fall after losing to Oklahoma State; they fell eight spots to No. 17 after a second defeat. This fall is the result of the committee’s uncertainty about Oklahoma’s overall resume, which predated these two losses to Kansas and the Cowboys and was mostly based on what the committee saw as lacklustre wins versus SMU, Cincinnati, and Central Florida.
Some of the Sooners’ position in the playoff rankings is determined by head-to-head tiebreakers; they must be behind Kansas and Oklahoma State, two teams with identical records. But there’s another aspect of Oklahoma’s rating that speaks to its standing with the committee, and games against West Virginia, TCU, and Brigham Young in November won’t change that.
Southern California
Southern California, as expected, was not ranked in the playoffs following a shootout loss to Washington, the Trojans’ third defeat. This absence is still extremely disappointing: USC was one win away from reaching the national semifinals last year and won six straight games to start this season before dropping three of four, including a 50-49 loss to California. While all national title dreams vanished over a month ago, the Trojans’ absence from the rankings underscores how disappointing this season has been.