Michigan moves up into playoff position
Michigan moved into the fourth spot of the College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday night, behind Alabama, Clemson and Notre Dame.
Georgia was next at five, followed by Oklahoma.
The playoff picture cleared after a weekend where several contenders asserted themselves. The top four teams in the final rankings Dec. 2 will play in the national semifinals.
The Crimson Tide easily dispatched LSU from the top four, beating the Tigers 29-0. LSU, though, dropped to only No. 7 after its second loss, ahead of No. 8 Washington State, No. 9 West Virginia and No. 10 Ohio State — all with one loss.
Unbeaten Notre Dame moved up one spot to No. 3, and Michigan jumped a spot after a 42-7 victory against Penn State.
With four weeks left in the season, nine of the top 10 teams are serious contenders. LSU is basically out because the Tigers can’t win a conference title.
Assuming the three unbeaten teams — Alabama (9-0), Clemson (9-0) and Notre Dame (9-0) — would get in by winning out, here are the paths to the playoff:
Michigan (8-1): Winning out, including at Ohio State, puts Jim Harbaugh’s team at 12-1 with a Big Ten title. That’s a resume with victories against Michigan State, Wisconsin and Penn State, and a seven-point road loss to Notre Dame. The Wolverines could be in with one more loss because some highly ranked teams still have to play each other. If it comes down to two-loss teams to fill the final playoff spot, figure the ones with conference championships will have the edge.
Georgia (8-1): Simple: Win out, get in, which would include beating Alabama.
Oklahoma (8-1): UCLA did the Sooners no favor by being terrible and depriving Oklahoma of a quality nonconference victory. Still, the Sooners are probably the Big 12’s best bet to win an argument against a one-loss Big Ten champion or Notre Dame with one loss.
Washington State (8-1): The Cougars could finish as 12-1 champions of the weakest Power Five conference and no notable nonconference victories. The most realistic scenario to put the Cougars in the playoff involves Big Ten and Big 12 implosions.
Briefly: Wisconsin is getting backup quarterback Jack Coan ready to play Saturday at No. 21 Penn State with starter Alex Hornibrook listed as questionable because of another head injury. Hornibrook was in the concussion protocol for the second time in three weeks after getting hurt in Saturday’s 31-17 victory over Rutgers . ... Wake Forest will start redshirt sophomore Jamie Newman at quarterback Thursday against No. 22 North Carolina State. He replaces Sam Hartman, a freshman who started the first nine games before suffering a season-ending leg injury late in Saturday’s 41-24 loss to No. 13 Syracuse.