College Football Power Rankings

Posted By Gettysburgian Staff on Dec 1, 2018 | 0 comments

College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

By Garrett Glaeser, Staff Writer

The second to last rankings by the committee came out Tuesday night prior to the upcoming conference championships and Selection Sunday on December 3.

With Michigan’s blowout loss to Ohio State, the Wolverines dropped to #7 and the Buckeyes rose to #6. The top 5 remained what we expected with Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Georgia, and Oklahoma.

At this point so late in the season it is clear the committee will be only dealing with the top 6 teams as contenders for the four-team playoff.

Undefeated UCF is still left on the outs at #8 and we may soon be hearing them declare themselves back-to-back national champions if they win their bowl game.

Alabama, regardless if they win their conference championship or not are getting in. The same goes for Clemson who face a shaky Pitt team for the ACC title. Notre Dame, being an independent, doesn’t play this weekend so they are essentially guaranteed a spot.

In looking at this weekend’s conference championships, the obvious eye catching one is the SEC juggernaut battle with #1 Alabama and #4 Georgia. Seeing how the Big 10 and Big 12 have grossly underperformed this season, as long as the SEC title game stays close, I think both teams could still get in.

What makes things tricky is Oklahoma. The Sooners have capitalized on a great offense overcompensating for a terrible defense all season and are knocking at the door of the playoff.

The Big 12 title game against #14 Texas, the only team to beat Oklahoma this year, should be a good one. But if the Longhorns win again, Oklahoma can kiss their playoff hopes goodbye.

However, if the Sooners win and the Georgia Bulldogs lose, Oklahoma could sneak in and grab that final playoff spot. If they do, their D will have to work double time against a Tide offense that takes no prisoners.

Ohio State also throws a wrench into the conversation with the chance to finish the season at 12-1 with a Big 10 title if they prevail against #21 Northwestern this weekend. However Ohio State is marred by that inexplicable loss to Purdue.

If Georgia loses to Alabama, and Oklahoma to Texas, I still would give the nod to the Bulldogs over the Buckeyes because I think Georgia’s then two losses to LSU and Alabama were more quality than Ohio State’s to the Boilermakers.

Outside of the top 6, #7 Michigan should be satisfied with their year. They rebounded from week one loss to Notre Dame with a ten-week revenge tour that came to an abrupt end by a rivalry game gone wrong.

One thing is clear for both the Wolverines and Buckeyes: if they want to get in they’re going to have to beat one another. The famed rivalry game is just too important and too late in the season to lose and recover from.

Also of note is #10 LSU who, sitting at 7-3, doesn’t really feel like a three loss team. This past weekend they lost in seven, yes seven, overtimes to a Jimbo Fisher led Texas A&M team that has performed well this year.

Before that, the Tigers losses came to tough SEC opponents in Alabama and Florida. Coach Ed Orgeron has a lot to look forward to in the offseason. LSU is rising to challenge Alabama and Georgia in the SEC in years to come in search for their first playoff spot in the CFP era.

The Rankings: