Grapevine, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – TCU returned to the top four in the
College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday, moving up two spots to No. 3
ahead of reigning national champion Florida State.
Alabama was No. 1 for the third week in a row after beating Auburn in the
highest-scoring Iron Bowl in history and Oregon was No. 2 for the fourth week
running.
The Crimson Tide (11-1) will face Missouri in Saturday’s SEC championship game
while the Ducks (11-1) are getting ready for Friday’s Pac-12 title game
against Arizona, which is No. 7 in this week’s poll.
TCU, after routing Texas by 38 points for its sixth consecutive win, returned
to the top four for the first time in three weeks with its highest ranking in
the poll to date.
The Horned Frogs (10-1) face Iowa State on Saturday in their final regular
season game.
After being ranked No. 3 for three weeks in a row, Florida State fell one spot
in the poll despite being the only remaining unbeaten FBS team.
The Seminoles (12-0) play Georgia Tech on Saturday for the ACC championship.
The selection committee will meet one more time this weekend before announcing
the final standings on Sunday.
The top four teams in the final rankings will play in the national semifinals
on Jan. 1.
The winners of the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day will move on to
the national championship game on Jan. 12 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The playoff system replaced the oft-criticized BCS, which was in place from
1998 until last season.
This week, Ohio State (11-1) and Baylor (10-1) were ranked fifth and sixth in
that order. Ohio State faces Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game on
Saturday and Baylor, which beat TCU in October, plays Kansas State.
Michigan State, Kansas State and former CFP No. 1 Mississippi rounded out the
top 10 on Tuesday. Mississippi State tumbled six places from No. 4 last week
after losing to Ole Miss.
Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, Wisconsin, Georgia, UCLA, Missouri, Arizona State,
Clemson, Auburn, Oklahoma, Louisville, Boise State, Utah, LSU and USC rounded
out the top 25.
