College Football Playoff Rankings: Week 13

Story posted November 20, 2019 in

Tuesday the third College Football Playoff rankings of the season were announced. The top four remained the same with LSU at one, Ohio State at two, Clemson at three, and Georgia at four.

The top four does not come as much of a surprise as all four won this past week, including Georgia beating Auburn. There also was not a team with an impressive enough win to jump into the top four.

LSU has cemented themselves as the top team in the nation so far this season. They have beaten multiple top 10 teams in Florida and Alabama. They have also defeated Texas and Auburn. Their resume speaks for itself, and they are the clear number one right now.

Ohio State has yet to play an elite team, but they have rolled over absolutely everyone they played. Their smallest margin of victory this season was 24 points over Florida Atlantic. Ohio State’s dominant offense has garnered them national recognition. They have two tough games to close out their season in Penn State and Michigan. Right now they are deserving of the number two ranking, but depending on how these last two games go, they could move up or down.

Clemson’s schedule is always a hot topic. The Tigers play in the weakest of the Power Five conferences: the ACC. Clemson has only played one ranked team this season, and almost lost on the road to UNC as well. Even though Clemson has an easy schedule, they typically roll over their opponents and have showed just how dominant they can be. Because of this, their ranking at three is justified.

Georgia is the only one loss team in the top four. Their only loss was a bad one, a home loss to unranked South Carolina. However, they have also beaten Notre Dame, Florida, and Auburn. If they hadn’t lost to South Carolina, they could be as high as one or two because of the top teams they have beaten. Georgia controls their own destiny at this point, but number four is a good spot for them right now.

Outside of the top four, Oklahoma had a big win against Baylor on the road this week. However, the committee did not find the rest of their resume good enough to warrant them jumping Penn State or either of the Pac 12 teams.

Minnesota lost for the first time last week against Iowa, but the committee still thinks they are legit, as they only dropped to 10. Early in the season, Minnesota struggled to gain national respect, but after their win over Penn State they are a well-respected team.

The top four could experience a big shake up next week when Penn State travels to Ohio State. A Penn State win would bring up a lot of questions about where Penn State should be and if Ohio State should still be a top four team.

 

 

Zech Lambert is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email zbl5146@psu.edu.