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There was barely any movement at the top of the College Football Playoff standings after Week 13.
The top four teams stayed the same, with Notre Dame moving up one spot to No. 5. The Fighting Irish are behind Oregon, Ohio State, Texas and Penn State.
Miami is ranked No. 6, ahead of Georgia, Tennessee, SMU and Indiana. The Volunteers and Hoosiers were big beneficiaries of losses to Alabama, Ole Miss and Texas A&M in Week 13. If Tennessee and Indiana win on Saturday, they will almost certainly be in the 12-team playoffs.
Breaks in the first round
No. 1 Oregon
No. 2 Texas
No. 3 Miami
No. 4 Boise State
The teams that had byes after Week 12 are the same four teams that had byes in the 12-team bracket after Week 13. Remember, the top four conference champions will receive byes in the first round of the playoffs.
First round games
No. 12 Arizona State at No. 5 Ohio State
No. 11 Indiana at No. 6 Penn State
SMU No. 10 at Notre Dame No. 7
No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Georgia
While the current projected top four seeds may be the four teams that earn playoff byes, this current projection of first-round games is not representative of what we will see in the final standings.
SMU will play either Clemson or Miami for the ACC title. If the Mustangs win the ACC title, they will likely be in the top four. If they lose, they could be completely left out of the general group. Georgia is in a similar situation. The Bulldogs are in the top four with a win over Texas or Texas A&M in the SEC title game. If they lose that game, we assume the Bulldogs will be in the playoffs, but they may not host a first-round game.
Ohio State also has a chance to make the top four with a win over Michigan in Week 14 and a win over Oregon in the Big Ten title game. If the Buckeyes do that, they’ll probably be the number one seed.
The top two teams left out of this week’s bracket are Clemson and Alabama, the top-ranked team with three losses. The Tigers are a fascinating test case. If Miami beats Syracuse, Clemson won’t be playing for the ACC title. But a win over a 15th-ranked South Carolina team will go a long way toward the Tigers’ chances of an at-large berth ahead of the loser of the ACC title game or another team.
What about Tulane?
The biggest takeaway from Tuesday night’s standings is that the committee has all four teams tied for first place in the Big 12 relative to Tulane.
Arizona State is the highest-ranked Big 12 team at No. 16. The Green Wave is one spot behind the Sun Devils and ahead of Iowa State at No. 18 and BYU at No. 19. Colorado is No. 25. The Buffaloes have one more loss than the other three teams they are tied with.
ASU wins any four-way tie at 7-2 in the conference. The Sun Devils are in the Big 12 title game with a win over Arizona on Saturday. Iowa State would be the second team in the conference title game in a four-way tie with its victory over Kansas State. The No. 23 Wildcats beat Tulane in New Orleans in September.
The Green Wave has been fantastic in AAC play and is set to play Army for the conference title on December 6th. If they beat Memphis on Thursday night and also win convincingly over Army, a team that was ranked last week before Notre Dame was defeated. the Black Knights: Tulane has reason to be ahead of a two-loss Big 12 champion.
If that were to happen, the Big 12 could miss the playoffs entirely if Boise State wins the Mountain West and finishes the season at 12-1. We’re not sure the committee will ultimately place an 11-2 Tulane team ahead of an 11-2 Big 12 champion, but it’s a scenario worth watching given Tuesday night’s standings.
1. Oregon (11-0)
2. Ohio State (10-1)
3. Texas (10-1)
4. Pennsylvania (10-1)
5. Notre Dame (10-1)
6.Miami (10-1)
7. Georgia (9-2)
8.Tennessee (9-2)
9. SMU (10-1)
10.Indiana (10-1)
11. Boise State (10-1)
12. Clemson (9-2)
13.Alabama (8-3)
14. Old Miss (8-3)
15. South Carolina (8-3)
16. Arizona State (9-2)
17. Tulane (9-2)
18. Iowa State (9-2)
19. Brigham Young University (9-2)
20. Texas A&M (8-3)
21. Missouri (8-3)
22. UNLV (9-2)
23. Illinois (8-3)
24. Kansas State (8-3)
25. Colorado (8-3)