Michigan earns spot in top 4 after LSU loss
Michigan climbed into the top four of the College Football Playoff rankings for the first time since 2016 in the latest release of the rankings on Tuesday night.
The Wolverines, who trounced Penn State 42-7 last week, moved up from the No. 5 spot after thenNo. 3 LSU lost to No. 1 Alabama 29-0.
The top two spots remain unchanged this week, with the Crimson Tide No. 1 and Clemson at No. 2. The Tigers are one of four undefeated teams after they dominated Louisville 77-16.
Notre Dame moved up to third, tying its highest playoff ranking since Nov. 4, 2017, after the team improved to 9-0 following a hard-fought win over Northwestern Saturday. The Fighting Irish remain just ahead of Michigan based on their head-tohead matchup in the season opener, a game Notre Dame won 24-17.
Georgia, which secured a spot in the SEC championship game against Alabama with a win over Kentucky during weekend, moves up a spot to No. 5 in this week's rankings.
Oklahoma moves up to sixth and is the Big 12’s best hope for a possible playoff semifinal contender.
LSU (7-2) slid down to No. 7 followed by three one-loss teams to round out the top 10 — Washington State, West Virginia and Ohio State.
Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens, the chair of the selection committee, explained why the Tigers didn’t drop more and are still ahead of teams with better records.
“LSU does have the most wins against ranked top 25 teams from this ranking this week,” Mullens said. “They did beat Auburn, Georgia and Mississippi State. So, the committee weighed that heavily with their only losses being to Alabama and on the road to Florida. So, with that strong defense, still felt they were a good team.”
Kentucky dropped to No. 11 after its loss to Georgia.
Central Florida (8-0), which holds the nation's longest winning streak spanning 21 games, remained unchanged at No. 12.
Texas (6-3) dropped two spots after losing to West Virginia 42-41. Texas A&M, which had been ranked No. 20, dropped out after losing to Auburn.
This is the second of six weekly rankings released by the selection committee, with the final rankings to be revealed on Dec. 2. The rankings will determine the four semifinalists along with the teams participating in the remainder of the New Year's Six bowl games.
The two semifinals, which rotate yearly, will take place in Miami at the Orange Bowl and in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 29.
The national championship game is Monday, Jan. 7, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.