Sports
CFP Rankings Update: Alabama Drops out of Top Four
The biggest change in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings finds the Alabama Crimson Tide falling to No. 10 after a heartbreaking loss at home to the Oklahoma Sooners. The top three remain the same as the Ohio State Buckeyes, Indiana Hoosiers and the Texas A&M Aggies continue to hold serve. Meanwhile, it will be significant at the end of the weekend.
If the postseason kicked off today, the opening matchups would feature Tulane traveling to Texas Tech, Miami heading to Ole Miss, Alabama facing Oregon, and Notre Dame taking on Oklahoma. Although Miami currently holds the top spot among ACC programs, the Hurricanes remain a longshot to capture the conference crown.
A clearer path exists for Georgia Tech or Virginia: if Georgia Tech defeats Pitt this Saturday in Atlanta and Virginia beats Virginia Tech the following week, those two would meet in the ACC title game. The champion would secure the league’s automatic bid as one of the five highest-ranked conference winners.
For Miami to sneak into the ACC championship, the Hurricanes would need to win out and see Virginia, Georgia Tech, and SMU drop all their remaining games—plus a Duke loss in one of its final two matchups. According to ESPN’s FPI, Georgia Tech currently holds a 35.3% probability of winning the ACC, with Virginia close behind at 32.7%.
In Tuesday’s rankings, the SEC once again dominated with nine teams listed. The Big Ten followed with six, the Big 12 tallied five thanks to newcomers Houston and Arizona State, and the ACC landed three after Pitt fell out following its 37–15 defeat to Notre Dame. Tulane stepped in as the top-ranked Group of 5 team, overtaking USF.
CFP Top 25 Rankings — Nov. 18
| 1. Ohio State (10-0) |
| 2. Indiana (11-0) |
| 3. Texas A&M (10-0) |
| 4. Georgia (9-1) |
| 5. Texas Tech (10-1) |
| 6. Ole Miss (10-1) |
| 7. Oregon (9-1) |
| 8. Oklahoma (8-2) |
| 9. Notre Dame (8-2) |
| 10. Alabama (8-2) |
| 11. BYU (9-1) |
| 12. Utah (8-2) |
| 13. Miami (8-2) |
| 14. Vanderbilt (8-2) |
| 15. USC (8-2) |
| 16. Georgia Tech (9-1) |
| 17. Texas (7-3) |
| 18. Michigan (8-2) |
| 19. Virginia (9-2) |
| 20. Tennessee (7-3) |
| 21. Illinois (7-3) |
| 22. Missouri (7-3) |
| 23. Houston (8-2) |
| 24. Tulane (8-2) |
| 25. Arizona State (7-3) |
The four first-round games will be played at the home campus of the higher-seeded teams on Dec. 19 and 20. The four quarterfinal games will be staged at the Cotton Bowl Classic, Capital One Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential and the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.
The two semifinal games will take place at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Jan. 8 and 9.
The CFP National Championship presented by AT&T is scheduled for Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
