Penultimate College Football rankings released before conference championship weekend

The Georgia Bulldogs still hold the top spot in the College Football Playoff rankings, but after a wild Rivalry Week, the rest of the top four looks a bit different.

With Michigan’s 45-23 win over Ohio State in Columbus (No. 3 vs. No. 2, respectively, at the time), the Wolverines moved up a spot before they take on Purdue in the Big Ten Championship Game on Saturday.

The Buckeyes’ loss dropped them down to No. 5, and they are now on the outside looking in.

TCU moved up a spot and is now the third-ranked team after they were able to take care of business with a 62-14 win over Iowa State ahead of the Big 12 title game against No. 13 Kansas State.

The big move up, though, came from USC, who after taking down then-No. 15 Notre Dame, combined with then-No. 5 LSU’s devastating loss to a then-4-7 Texas A&M team, the Trojans are now at the four-spot – the Tigers fell all the way to 14. 

LSU will still take on Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, but since they’re now ranked in the teens, there’s basically nothing they can do. Had they not been upset, that matchup would have had huge implications for just about everyone in the top-six.

Although not guaranteed, considering Ohio State and No. 6 Alabama are off this weekend and don’t control their own destiny, it’s almost safe to say that if each top-four team wins their conference championship game this weekend (USC faces No. 11 Utah in the Pac-12 title game), those will be the four squads that will compete in the College Football Playoff. 

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Here’s how the rest of the Top 25 shakes out, along with their records and ranking from last week:

No. 7: Tennessee (10-2, No. 10)

No. 8: Penn State (10-2, No. 11)

No. 9: Clemson (10-2, No. 8)

No. 10: Kansas State (9-3, No. 12)

No. 11: Utah (9-3, No. 14)

No. 12: Washington (10-2, No. 13)

No. 13: Florida State (9-3, No. 16)

No. 14: LSU (9-3, No. 5)

No. 15: Oregon State (9-3, No. 21)

No. 16: Oregon (9-3, No. 9)

No. 17: UCLA (9-3, No. 18)

No. 18: Tulane 10-2, No. 19)

No. 19: South Carolina (8-4, unranked)

No. 20: Texas (8-4, No. 23)

No. 21: Notre Dame (8-4, No. 15)

No. 22: UCF (9-3, same)

No. 23: North Carolina (9-3, No. 17)

No. 24: Mississippi State (8-4, unranked)

No. 25: N.C. State (8-4, unranked)