Losses by last week's top two teams, Alabama and Miami, have shaken things up in the College Football Playoff rankings as two schools make their first appearance in the CFP top four in the penultimate rankings of the season released Tuesday night.
At No. 2, Auburn makes its debut in the top four after knocking off its second top-ranked team of the season. The Tigers beat Alabama 26-14 in Saturday's Iron Bowl. Auburn previously beat Georgia when the Bulldogs were No. 1. Georgia (No. 6 this week) will have a chance at redemption as it faces a banged-up Auburn squad in Saturday's SEC championship game.
Auburn sits behind another group of Tigers as Clemson moves up to No. 1 in this week's CFP rankings. The reigning champs are followed by Auburn, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.
The Badgers have spent the entire season on the outside of the CFP semifinal bubble looking in, but the only remaining unbeaten Power 5 school still needs to put up one more W in order to stay in the top four. Wisconsin will take on Ohio State in the Big Ten title game Saturday. Should the eighth-ranked Buckeyes win, they could provide a compelling argument for a spot in the semifinals.
The third-ranked Sooners will be locked in a rematch for their conference title game as Oklahoma will face TCU for the Big 12 championship. The Sooners' spot is not guaranteed, though, as a loss to the No. 11 Horned Frogs on Saturday could kick them out of the CFP semifinal.
Despite Saturday's loss to rival Auburn, Nick Saban believes Alabama "deserves an opportunity to get in the playoff," but that will depend on how conference title weekend goes. Having fallen to No. 5 this week in the CFP rankings, Alabama will have to hope favorites like Oklahoma or Clemson lose; if that happens, the Crimson Tide's résumé may lift them back up into the playoff. Unlike Miami and Ohio State, however, Alabama won't have the luxury of playing an additional game to state its case.
Miami picked the worst time to suffer its first loss of the season, a stunning 24-14 defeat to unranked Pittsburgh. That loss dropped the Hurricanes from No. 2 to No. 7, and their only hope at getting back into the top four begins with a win in Saturday's ACC title game against Clemson.
At No. 9, Penn State is probably the highest-ranked team that is without any possible path into the CFP top four. The final rankings will be released Sunday at 12 p.m. on ESPN.
The Nittany Lions are followed by USC, the highest-ranked team out of the Pac-12. The Trojans will take on No. 12 Stanford for the conference championship on Friday night. That game will be a rematch of a Sept. 9 USC victory.
TCU, Oklahoma's foe in the Big 12 title game, is ranked 11th. The Horned Frogs are followed by Stanford and Washington. The Huskies entered last week's Apple Cup ranked 17th, four spots behind rival Washington State, but Washington's decisive 41-14 victory lifted the Huskies to No. 13 and sent the Cougars down to No. 18.
UCF, a winner over in-state rival USF in a high-scoring thriller Saturday, is the highest-ranked Group of 5 school and sits at No. 14 with designs on a New Year's Day bowl game. The only thing standing in the undefeated Knights' way is No. 20 Memphis. The two teams will play each other in the AAC championship game, with the winner likely playing in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
Notre Dame fell from No. 8 to No. 15 after losing this past weekend to Stanford. The Irish are followed by Michigan State, LSU, Washington State, Oklahoma State and Memphis.
Northwestern is No. 21 as Virginia Tech, Mississippi State, NC State and Fresno State round out the CFP top 25.
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