Top four stay same again in college playoff rankings
Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame and Michigan were at the top of the College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday night, marking the first time in the five-year history of the postseason system that the same teams held the first four spots for three straight weeks.
Unlike last week, there was a little movement in the top 10. Central Florida moved up two spots to No. 9. The Knights became the first team from outside the Power Five conference to be ranked in the selection committee’s top 10.
Georgia remained No. 5, followed by Oklahoma at sixth. LSU remained seventh, Washington State held at 8 and Ohio State stayed at 10th.
No. 11 was Florida, which could help the Gators secure a New Year’s Six bowl bid. Penn State is 12th. UCF’S LONG SHOT >> There does not seem to be a realistic path to the playoff for UCF. What about an unrealistic one? Maybe. Imbalanced conferences have set traps for playoff contenders that UCF athletic director Danny White could not have laid out any better.
There is a case to be made that there is literally no way UCF would be allowed in the playoff. The conspiracy theorist would say the selection committee has been given their Power Five marching orders and that’s that. There is a glass ceiling over UCF no matter the chaos in the other conferences. The less cynical would say UCF’s schedule, not as rigorous as the other top teams, would deservedly keep the Knights out even if the alternative is teams that have lost two or even three games.
CFP executive director Bill Hancock has often said there is no glass ceiling on the Group of Five teams. They just need aggressive and fortuitous nonconference scheduling. The example often give is Houston of the American Athletic Conference in 2016. The Cougars, coming off a Peach Bowl victory like UCF this season, beat two highly ranked Power Five teams with star quarterback that season Oklahoma with Baker Mayfield and Louisville with Lamar Jackson. But they lost three conference games and didn’t even earn a major bowl bid.
But a Group of Five team with those types of nonconference victories, plus a strong conference record and league title, would have a chance to make the final four.
UCF doesn’t have those victories this season. Its game against North Carolina was cancelled by a hurricane, and the Tar Heels aren’t any good, anyway. UCF did play and pound Pittsburgh in September and the Panthers (74) have turned out to be a good enough to reach the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game against Clemson in two weeks.
Notre Dame would likely reach the playoff no matter what it does against Southern California this weekend. Let’s just assume the Irish win and are 12-0 and in.
That leaves two spots and four of the five Power Five conference champions have at least three losses. UMASS, WHIPPLE WILL PART WAYS >> A person familiar with the decision said Massachusetts is working on parting ways with coach Mark Whipple, who has led the Minutemen to just 16 victories in six seasons during his second stint at the school.