Ohio State Buckeyes move up three spots in playoff rankings

After watching the Nos.

Washington is a distant sixth with Oklahoma and Penn State fighting (closely at that) for the No. 7 spot. There are a couple of things, though, to keep our eye on as we move forward. Louisville moved up yet another spot, this time to No. 5. Hocutt was a little contradictory on how the Committee is handling the status of the now 11th-ranked Cowboys, who are 8-2.

Penn State entered the top-10 of the College Football Playoff rankings last week. 7 and 8, respectively. If the Nittany Lions win out (at Rutgers, vs. Michigan State) and Ohio State beats Michigan at the end of the regular season, Penn State will win the Big Ten East and head to Indianapolis.

A Saturday full of upsets led to a reshuffling of the College Football Playoff rankings, with Ohio State being the biggest beneficiary.

Check out the new rankings below. Auburn (7-3); December 3 vs. TBD in SEC championship game. Watson threw some critical, untimely interceptions against the Pitt Panthers- and now the ACC will only get one team into the playoffs- certainly not two. Run the table and Alabama will be the No. 1 seed in the playoff and play a CFP semifinal in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. The Buckeyes were outside of the Top 4 last week before their 62-3 win over Maryland. The Buckeyes have to hope for the Nittany Lions to lose against either Rutgers or MI to take the East division’s spot in Indianapolis. “We talked in depth about those losses and all the other facets that makes up those teams resume”.

The craziness has of course jumbled the playoff picture, and teams previously on the outside looking in (specifically Ohio State and Louisville) are now in a much better position than they were on Saturday morning. Ohio State’s only loss took place on the road against a Top 10 team in Penn State. If the Tigers win against Wake Forest, they’ll win the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Atlantic Division and play in the ACC Championship Game on December 3 in Orlando, Florida.

Last week: Lost to Iowa 14-13. If Wisconsin wins out, the Badgers will be Big Ten champs with an 11-2 overall record.

Among Group of 5 programs, Boise State moved up to No. 20, just ahead of undefeated Western Michigan at No. 21.

“Michigan is the only team with three wins against current CFP Top 10 [teams]”, Hocuff said after the rankings were announced (h/t George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press). There is not another path for the Wolverines. Clemson lost 43-42 to Pittsburgh at home on a last-second field goal. Washington fell four spots to No. 6 after losing to resurgent USC. 4 Washington, who dropped to No. 6. Their only loss comes at Clemson by a single score and they still looked impressive in that loss. Clemson has a tough road game against Wake Forest followed by a home tilt against SC and then the ACC Championship Game.