There is just one week left in the college football regular season, and it is the best one of them all. Rivalry week will bring tears, cheers, and jeers alike, with conference and national title stakes on the line.
Week 13 was a bit of a sleepy one in college football as rivalry week loomed, but there were still plenty of consequential results. Oregon and Oklahoma both cemented their spots in the top eight with home wins over ranked teams, and both now appear one game away from hosting a CFP game in December.
Utah barely snuck past a Kansas State team that nearly rushed for 500 yards in Salt Lake City, but many wondered coming out of Saturday whether that was enough to stay ahead of Miami and Vanderbilt, both of whom posted impressive victories in conference play.
On Tuesday night, they got their answer when the selection committee revealed the latest CFP rankings heading into rivalry week.
- Ohio State (11-0)
- Indiana (11-0)
- Texas A&M (11-0)
- Georgia (10-1)
- Texas Tech (10-1)
- Oregon (10-1)
- Ole Miss (10-1)
- Oklahoma (9-2)
- Notre Dame (9-2)
- Alabama (9-2)
- BYU (10-1)
- Miami (FL) (9-2)
- Utah (9-2)
- Vanderbilt (9-2)
- Michigan (9-2)
- Texas (8-3)
- USC (8-3)
- Virginia (9-2)
- Tennessee (8-3)
- Arizona State (8-3)
- SMU (8-3)
- Pittsburgh (8-3)
- Georgia Tech (9-2)
- Tulane (9-2)
- Arizona (8-3)
There are a couple of notable changes here. The first is that Miami has now jumped ahead of Utah at No. 12, and the Hurricanes continue to inch closer to Notre Dame, who they have a head-t0-head win over. The committee continues to cite that Notre Dame is the more complete team based on efficiency numbers and the eye test — which is true — but how close do they have to get for that Week 1 result to take precedent?
Above that, Oregon has leapfrogged Ole Miss for the No. 6 spot after its impressive win over USC on Saturday. Both teams are safely in the field if they can get wins in Week 14, but the No. 6 spot is coveted. At this moment, the Ducks would now play what will likely be the ACC champion, projected to be Virginia, SMU or Pittsburgh. On the other hand, Ole Miss in the No. 7 spot would play the final at-large team, which is currently Alabama.
Of course, there is still plenty to be decided. Rivalry week is always contentious, but there are mountains of CFP implications heading into the final weekend of the regular season and into conference championship weekend. As a result, there is no telling what may come next.
