LSU at No. 5, top four groups hold steady in
After conquering hard games against unranked opponents, the top four teams in the College Football Playoff rankings stayed the exact same Tuesday night, while LSU stayed one area ahead of USC at No. 5.
Georgia led off the CFP selection committee’s rankings for the third straight week, followed by Ohio State at No. 2, Michigan at No. 3 and TCU at No. 4. The Buckeyes and Wolverines, who play this coming Saturday in Columbus, both trailed in the 2nd half recently before keeping their unbeaten records undamaged. Michigan and TCU both needed go-ahead field goals in the last minute to hold off Illinois and Baylor, respectively.USC’s dramatic road win
over crosstown competing UCLA wasn’t enough to leapfrog two-loss LSU, which beat UAB 41-10 at Tiger Stadium. Lincoln Riley’s team appeared at No. 5 in both the AP and coaches’surveys Sunday, USC’s first AP top-five ranking because September 2017. The Trojans’only loss came over one point on the roadway against Utah, which fell to No. 14 after its loss at Oregon.2 Related”That was a dominant discussion for the last couple of days, to make sure we were taking a look at it the proper way,”CFP committee chair Boo Corrigan, the athletic director at NC State, said on ESPN’s rankings release program with regards to the choice at No. 5.”There’s factors for USC to be at No. 5, there’s reasons for LSU to be at No. 5. “Tennessee, which occupied the No. 5 area recently, was up to No. 10 after
its 63-38 road loss to South Carolina.LSU ends up the regular season at Texas A&M before facing Georgia in the SEC championship game.
USC this week hosts Notre Dame, which went up 3 areas to No. 15 in the choice committee’s rankings. The Trojans’Pac-12 champion challenger will be identified this coming weekend, although Oregon, which went up three areas to No. 9 after the Utah win, can clinch a spot in Las Vegas by beating No. 21 Oregon State on the road.An Oregon loss this week would unlock for No. 13 Washington and Utah to reach the Pac-12 championship.Alabama and Clemson both moved up an area in
the rankings to No. 7 and No. 8. Clemson will not host a ranked South Carolina group Saturday however has wins over Florida State, which moved up 3 spots to No. 16, and Louisville, which went into the rankings at No. 25. Clemson is set for an ACC championship matchup with North Carolina, which fell only four areas to No. 17 after losing to a 4-6 Georgia Tech team in the house this past Saturday. “You’re trying to find football judgement, which game versus Notre Dame … that continues to be part of the discussion, “Corrigan said of the Tigers ’35-14 loss to the Irish.
“In general, we saw at Alabama at 7, and Clemson at 8.”TCU, which hosts Iowa State on Saturday, will deal with either No. 12 Kansas State or No. 23 Texas in next week’s Big 12 championship game. Kansas State, which moved up 3 spots
in Tuesday’s rankings, can clinch an area by beating Kansas. If Kansas State falls, Texas would go if it beats Baylor.”We go through the exact same thing each week,”Corrigan said.”TCU has done an actually good task in discovering methods to win games. “Tulane is once again the highest-ranked Group of 5 group at No. 19, following its house win over SMU and UCF’s home loss to Navy. The Green Wave on Friday visit No. 24 Cincinnati, and the winner will
host the American Athletic Conference title game next week. The Tulane-Cincinnati winner might face a rematch in the champion, but No. 22 UCF and Houston likewise could reach the game.