We are officially into the final month of the college football regular season, and plenty of teams still have everything to play for. Anywhere between 20 and 40 teams are still alive to reach the expanded 12-team playoff, and the College Football Playoff rankings tell the story of the sport each week.
Week 11 was defined by a pair of SEC matchups, both of which were won resoundingly. Alabama walked into Baton Rouge and destroyed LSU 42-13 behind four rushing touchdowns by Jalen Milroe, and Ole Miss owned Georgia at the line of scrimmage in a 28-10 domination in Oxford. In the ACC, previously unbeaten Miami (FL) dropped its first game in a stunning upset against Georgia Tech.
As a result, both Alabama and Ole Miss surged into the projected bracket when the selection committee released the Week 12 CFP rankings. Here is the full top 25 heading into Week 12.
- Oregon (10-0)
- Ohio State (8-1)
- Texas (8-1)
- Penn State (8-1)
- Indiana (10-0)
- BYU (9-0)
- Tennessee (8-1)
- Notre Dame (8-1)
- Miami (FL) (9-1)
- Alabama (7-2)
- Ole Miss (8-2)
- Georgia (7-2)
- Boise State (8-1)
- SMU (8-1)
- Texas A&M (7-2)
- Kansas State (7-2)
- Colorado (7-2)
- Washington State (8-1)
- Louisville (6-3)
- Clemson (7-2)
- South Carolina (6-3)
- LSU (6-3)
- Missouri (7-2)
- Army (9-0)
- Tulane (8-2)
Predictably, Ole Miss was the biggest riser in the CFP rankings after its big win over Georgia, moving up five spots to No. 11 and into the projected bracket. Alabama moved up just one spot to No. 10 after shredding LSU, but the Tigers felt the brunt of the loss as they fell seven spots to No. 22.
Indiana and BYU, two teams who were at the center of the discussion after the first CFP rankings release prior to Week 11, both moved up three spots to Nos. 5 and 6, respectively as they look to continue their unbeaten seasons.
There was some movement in the back half of the rankings as well. Losses by LSU, Iowa State and Pittsburgh allowed Clemson, Louisville, Washington State, Colorado and Kansas State to all move up three spots in the rankings. Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes, now at No. 17, are especially intriguing as they control their own destiny in the Big 12 with a clear path to the College Football Playoff.
One storyline to watch over the final few weeks of the season is a potential crazy tiebreaker in the SEC, where there are currently eight teams with one or two conference losses. Almost none of those teams match up with each other over the final three weeks of the season, so the standings will likely remain jumbled up until the very end.
There are a handful of Week 12 games that will have major implications on next week's rankings, with another SEC clash at the top of the list. On Saturday night, No. 7 Tennessee will travel to Athens to take on No. 12 Georgia in a huge matchup that could eliminate the Bulldogs from the playoff picture if they were to pick up another loss.
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