College Football Playoff Rankings Winners, Losers: Penn State, Georgia, More

The College Football Playoff selection committee announced its second ranking Tuesday night, and Penn State was among the teams that were pleased.

Other teams like Georgia and SMU probably weren’t too pleased.

Let’s take a look at the winners and losers in the current CFP rankings.

As a reminder, the 12-team CFP consists of the top five ranked conference champions and seven overall teams. In the first round, the four highest ranked champions receive byes. The highest-placed Group of Five champion is guaranteed a spot in the field.

Winner: Indiana, BYU

Loser: Tennessee

Last week, there was outrage on social media that Indiana and BYU — two undefeated teams from power conferences — were just inside the top 10 of the initial CFP rankings. The Hoosiers were No. 8 and the Cougars were No. 9.

This week, Indiana and BYU moved up to No. 5 and No. 6, respectively. The losses at Georgia and Miami caused some movement. But strangely, IU and BYU skipped Tennessee.

Tennessee defeated Mississippi State 33-14 last weekend. Indiana beat Michigan 20-15 as a two-touchdown favorite. BYU needed a last-second field goal to beat a mediocre Utah. And yet the Hoosiers and Cougars passed the Vols, who remained at No. 7.

CFP Chairman Warde Manuel said in a conference call with reporters that the exit of Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava with a possible concussion did not play a role. Manuel, Michigan’s athletic director, praised Indiana and BYU for “both winning big games.”

I don’t buy that. I think the committee has righted a mistake from last week, which is fine with me. Ultimately, Indiana and BYU deserve to be this high, and they will accept it because every spot in the rankings counts.

Winner: Penn State

Penn State is the No. 4 team in the country. I know the Ohio State loss could still be painful. I know that reaching the top 5 is not the goal. But this is a strong location at the moment.

Will the Nittany Lions stay there? Perhaps. Maybe not. Ranking games further down the line and the conference championship games could knock Penn State back a spot or two.

But the Nittany Lions are all but guaranteed a first-round CFP game at Beaver Stadium if they take care of business. Beat Purdue, Minnesota and Maryland, and James Franklin’s team will likely welcome a two-loss SEC team to Happy Valley for an icy game in December.

If you don’t want to beat Ohio State or win the Big Ten, that’s as good as it gets.

Loser: Georgia

The committee did the right thing with the Bulldogs and put them right behind the two teams they lost to, Alabama and Ole Miss. They’re on the outside looking in at No. 12.

Georgia has a chance to jump back into the cut line with a win over Tennessee. But some felt this week that a Georgia win against three-loss Texas might well be justified. But where they are right now, that’s nearly impossible for the Bulldogs. They have to beat the Vols on Saturday.

Winner: American Athletic Conference

Army remained undefeated this weekend and moved up to No. 24. Tulane came into the game ranked 25th. And other than Boise State, no other Group of Five team was ranked.

If Army upsets Notre Dame and comes out on top with a ranked win over Tulane in the AAC title game, it’s a real challenge for Boise State to maintain a stranglehold on the G5 spot regardless of what happens in the Mountain West. But if Boise State doesn’t win the MWC, the AAC – especially Army and Tulane – will be well-positioned for that G5 bid.

Winner: Miami

Loser: SMU

I disagree with the committee here. Miami fell five spots to No. 9 after the ugly loss at Georgia Tech. The Hurricanes looked unsettled and were pushed around in the trenches. After playing with fire all year (Virginia Tech, Cal, etc.), it finally caught up with them.

SMU is now the only ACC team undefeated in conference play. The Mustangs’ only loss was against BYU by three points in September. And they sit in 14th place.

In my AP Top 25 poll this week, SMU and Miami were ranked 12th and 13th, respectively. If SMU ultimately wins and beats Miami in the ACC title game, all of that will be moot. But at this point, Miami and SMU should be on the same level. Helmet bias much?