Top 10 unchanged in latest playoff rankings

The College Football Playoff rankings held steady at the top, with Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame and Michigan an unchanged first four from last week.

The third rankings of the season were dramafree Tuesday night after every top-10 team won last weekend. In fact, the selection committee’s entire top 10 stayed the same, the first time that has happened in the five seasons since the CFP was born. Ohio State remained at No. 10

With three weekends left until the final selections are made on Dec. 2, Georgia was fifth and Oklahoma was sixth. LSU, Washington State and West Virginia followed.

Central Florida moved up one spot to No. 11 and remained the highest-ranked team from outside the Power Five conferences. The Knights on Saturday host Cincinnati, which is ranked for the first time by the selection committee this season at No. 24.

In the four-year history of the College Football Playoff, the four teams at the top of the rankings after three weeks have never all made it to the semifinals. As much as it might feel as if the field is set, it would be best to expect an unexpected result or two over the next three weeks.

If Alabama were to lose the SEC championship game to Georgia, it could lead to the most controversial call in CFP history.

The Crimson Tide is the defending national champion and Tua Tagovailoa and company have been stomping everyone in their path. Even if it were to finish the regular season 11-1, Alabama could redeem itself by beating Georgia to win the SEC on championship weekend. A 12-1 SEC champion Alabama would not be left out of the playoff.

But 12-1 without an SEC championship? The committee already has twice sent teams that did not reach their conference title games to the playoff (Alabama last year, Ohio State in 2016).

But could the committee squeeze in the Tide after a loss to Georgia, which would obviously get in, if Clemson, Notre Dame and Michigan (and maybe even Oklahoma) all won out?

Big 12 fans will disagree, but Michigan at 12-1 looks like a good bet to sail into the playoff, especially if Notre Dame finishes unbeaten, therefore making the Wolverines’ only loss a one-score game in the opener at South Bend.

The Buckeyes have nice road victories against Penn State and Michigan State. Add Michigan and Northwestern in the Big Ten championship game to that resume, and suddenly a season of struggles in Columbus won’t look so bad. The stain of that blowout loss at Purdue won’t come off easy, though, and choosing between 12-1 Ohio State, Oklahoma and Washington State, or 11-1 West Virginia, won’t be such an easy chore for the committee.