UCF cracks top 10 as rankings change little
November gridlock persisted Tuesday evening when the top eight of the College Football Playoff rankings remained identical to last week, which was a week in which the top 10 had remained identical to the previous week. Only the first appearance in the top 10 by a Group of Five program — Central Florida’s bob from No. 11 to No. 9 — provided any bubbling.
No. 1 Alabama (11-0), No. 2 Clemson (11-0), No. 3 Notre Dame (11-0) and No. 4 Michigan (10-1) again were in the top four spots as the announcement of the four-team playoff on Dec. 2 approaches. Just beneath those lurked No. 5 Georgia (10-1).
After those contenders came perhaps the only mini-controversy of the list. No. 8 Washington State (10-1), which continued to gather note when it routed Arizona 69-28 last Saturday, remained in the spot it has held for all four rankings this season. The 13-member selection committee left the Cougars behind No. 6 Oklahoma (10-1) and No. 7 LSU (9-2).
The committee members, five athletic directors, five former coaches, one university president, one former player and one journalist, left Oklahoma at No. 6 even after it finished a three-game run in which it allowed 46 points to Texas Tech, 47 to Oklahoma State and 40 to Kansas. Oklahoma ranks No. 87 in total defense, No. 78 in yards-per-play defense and No. 86 in scoring defense.
LSU remained ahead of Washington State for the Tigers’ stout collection of victims, which include No. 5 Georgia, set against the Cougars’ schedule. In the nonconference games, LSU scheduled and defeated Miami (Fla.), which has struggled at 6-5, but which is a Power Five member, unlike the three nonconference conquests of Washington State: Wyoming, San Jose State and Eastern Washington.
Washington State will get a chance at masking that shortcoming Friday when it gets a visit from No. 16 Washington (8-3) in the annual Apple Cup fracas.
Before this season, no team from the Group of Five, the sport’s second tier, had exceeded No. 12 in any of the 25 rankings across the first four seasons. UCF bucked that last week when it rose from No. 12 to No. 11, and then after its 38-13 blasting of then-No. 24 Cincinnati last Saturday night, the Knights leapfrogged Ohio State to No. 9 .
Left at No. 10 was Ohio State (10-1), which clung to a 52-51 overtime win at Maryland. Much like Oklahoma, the Buckeyes suffer from some eye-popping defensive numbers, ranked No. 73 in total defense. They nonetheless will get a chance at upward mobility Saturday when they welcome No. 4 Michigan to Columbus.