Ranking the 134 college football teams after Week 11: Will shaky contenders feel SEC pressure?

Editor’s Note: The Athletic 134 is a weekly ranking of all FBS college football teams.

The ACC and Big 12’s hopes of sending multiple teams to the Top 12 College Football Playoff suffered a major setback over the weekend.

Miami (Florida) and Iowa State both lost, significantly denting their high hopes. Meanwhile, Ole Miss’ win at Georgia got more SEC teams into the playoffs rather than eliminating one with a third loss. BYU’s comeback rout in Utah probably didn’t help its overall case before the committee either.

At this point, these leagues’ best hope for multiple bids is an upset in their respective conference championship games that doesn’t eliminate even the top team. Those two conferences should also make sure Tennessee beats Georgia next week and hope Alabama and Ole Miss suffer a second loss somewhere. The slew of two-loss SEC teams has the potential to crush not only the high hopes of the ACC and Big 12, but also a team like Indiana should the Hoosiers lose overwhelmingly to Ohio State.

But that’s not the committee. This is The Athletic 134, and I’m sticking with my rankings and not reacting to the initial CFP rankings like poll voters sometimes do.

Here is this week’s edition of The Athletic 134.

1-10

Is BYU the fourth best team in the country? I don’t know, but they continue to get wins and still have two wins over top 20 teams in SMU and Kansas State. That’s a good resume. Should Tennessee be higher than the Cougars with the loss to Arkansas, or should Penn State and Indiana be higher without a top-25 win? At the moment I don’t really believe that.

Indiana moved up from No. 9 to No. 7 thanks to losses at Georgia and Miami, but the Hoosiers barely managed a 20-15 win against a Michigan team that pushed them around a bit in the second half. I think Indiana should be safe for a CFP spot as long as it beats Purdue, but a blowout loss to Ohio State could spark a conversation. We’ll see what happens in two weeks.

Alabama jumps from No. 13 to No. 8 after beating LSU on the road, while Ole Miss jumps from No. 16 to No. 9 after beating Georgia. The Bulldogs are suddenly struggling to secure a spot in the CFP and have lost to both Alabama and Ole Miss. Alabama stays ahead of Ole Miss here because of their performance against LSU, which beat Ole Miss.

11-25

Notre Dame is actually inches away from my CFP field after Alabama and Ole Miss advanced. The Irish could be another team hoping the SEC eliminates some of its teams, depending on what the committee presents on Tuesday.

SMU is my new ACC frontrunner at No. 12 and No. 4. The problem with Miami’s weak record was that it couldn’t afford a bad loss, so it suffered a loss to Georgia Tech and fell from No. 4 to No. 4 14 back. Miami’s best wins include Louisville and…Duke? The escape attempts against Cal and Virginia Tech earlier in the season aren’t helping. SMU also has wins over Louisville and Duke, as well as a Pitt win (which doesn’t mean much this week) and its only loss to undefeated BYU.

Colorado is ranked 17th and controlling its path to the Big 12 title game and a CFP berth after Saturday’s win at Texas Tech. Washington State is 8-1 and ranked 18th, but the path to an overall spot might just be too far away. Still, the Cougars are having a great season and should feel good about it.

South Carolina moves up to No. 20 after a dominant win over Vanderbilt. Army is also new to the group at No. 22 after defeating North Texas 14-3. Thanks to this game and East Carolina’s win elsewhere, the Black Knights went from zero wins against teams with a winning record to two wins over the weekend. Arizona State secures the 25th seed after beating UCF 7-2.

Go deeper

Mandel’s Final Thoughts: Alabama has pulled itself together and looks like they’re in the playoffs…again

26-50

Tulane has quietly advanced and moved up to No. 26, well in the running for a guaranteed Group of 5 playoff bid if Boise State stumbles. Iowa State falls to No. 27 after a loss to Kansas, while Pitt drops to No. 28 after a loss to Virginia, marking the second straight loss for both teams. 8-1 Louisiana may be too far behind to contend for the G5 spot in the CFP, especially since its only loss was against Tulane, but the Ragin’ Cajuns appear to be the best team in the Sun Belt playing one really good season. now up to No. 31.

Georgia Tech jumps to No. 32 after beating Miami. Syracuse drops to No. 40 after a loss to Boston College, while Iowa drops to No. 41 after a loss at UCLA. West Virginia’s win against Cincinnati moves the Mountaineers up to No. 46.

Go deeper

Week 11 CFP Racing Lessons: Mizzou in the “Playoff Hunt”? ACC with a bid?

51-75

UCLA has truly turned things around, winning three straight games and moving up to No. 57 after being at the bottom of the Power 4 not long ago. NC State falls to No. 64 after loss to Duke. Kansas jumps from No. 85 to No. 65 thanks to its win over Iowa State. No. 71 UConn is 7-3, its most wins since the 2010 Fiesta Bowl season after defeating UAB.

76-100

San Jose State’s win over Oregon State moves the Spartans to No. 79 and the Beavers to No. 80. No. 81 Jacksonville State scored on a Hail Mary against Louisiana Tech and missed the game-winning extra point, but won overtime anyway to stay atop Conference USA.

Oklahoma State’s collapse continued with a 38-13 loss to TCU, marking the seventh straight loss for the Cowboys, who fell to No. 85. Texas State defeated ULM to move up to No. 84. The MAC field continues as Miami (Ohio), Ohio and Bowling Green all won, and Northern Illinois handed Western Michigan its first MAC loss. Four teams are 4-1 at the top of the conference standings.

Has East Carolina turned things around since firing head coach Mike Houston? The Pirates are 2-0 under interim coach Blake Harrell and have scored a total of 105 points in wins against Temple and FAU to move up to 97th.

101-134

I’m not jaded when I see Florida State losing every week, falling to No. 103 after a 52-3 loss to Notre Dame. It’s still shocking every time. Mike Norvell got to work early and announced Sunday that both coordinators had been fired. New Mexico is 4-6 and ranked No. 109 after defeating San Diego State. Nevada might be the best 3-8 team in the country – the Wolf Pack has now pushed SMU and Boise State to their limits with losses this season.

Air Force defeated Fresno State to move up to No. 126, and in a battle of one-win teams, UTEP defeated Kennesaw State in overtime, leading to a coaching change at Kennesaw State. Kent State lost 41-0 to Ohio and remains winless and at the bottom of the rankings.

The Athletic 134 Series is part of a partnership with Allstate. The Athletic retains full editorial independence. Partners do not control or participate in the reporting or editing process, and do not review stories before publication.

(Photo: Justin Ford / Getty Images)