Michigan moves into place for playoff

Michigan moved into the fourth spot of the College Football Playoff rankings, behind Alabama, Clemson and Notre Dame.

Georgia was next at five, followed by Oklahoma.

The playoff picture cleared up after a weekend where several contenders asserted themselves. The top-four teams in the final rankings on 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, only dropped to No. 7 after its second loss, ahead of Washington State, West Virginia and Ohio State — all with only 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.

The playoff semifinals match the No. 1 seed vs. the No. 4 seed, and No. 2 will face No. 3.

The semifinals will be hosted at the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl on Dec. 29. The championship game will be played on Jan. 7 at Santa Clara, Calif.

Rypien on f ire. Senior quarterback Brett Rypien of Boise State has thrown for 2,779 yards with 24 touchdowns and six interceptions for a Broncos team that began the season with hopes of a getting into a New Year’s Six bowl and the playoff discussion.

That’s probably gone after two losses, but the Mountain West crown is still very much in play. Rypien leads Boise State against No. 16 Fresno State this week.