College Football Playoff Rankings Week 10
Week 9 (November 5th, 2022)
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Georgia (9-0)
The defending champions are defending the championship. They can clinch the SEC East next Saturday with a win at Mississippi State or a Tennessee loss to Missouri. Their giant win over Tennessee clearly has them at the top of the college football playoff rankings.
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Michigan (9-0)
Being most of my readers are Buckeye fans they’ll hate me for this. Looking at this season Ohio State and Michigan are even. But formula they used to beat Ohio State last year is still viable, Michigan is still using well, maybe even better than last season. So…
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Ohio State (9-0)
…If the Buckeyes play the way they have the past three games, TTUN will beat them on November 26th, and no one would hate that more than me. You can have a slow start against Iowa and come on late because they’re offense is terrible. You can start slow and struggle against Penn State because you can wear them down. You can start slow and struggle against Northwestern in insane weather because there is a large talent gap between Ohio State and Northwestern. You can’t do that against that team up north because they have a good offense, they’re not going to get worn down, and there isn’t a massive talent gap between them and the Buckeyes.
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TCU (9-0)
One of only four undefeated teams left. They deserve this spot for that goose egg in the loss column. If they finish 2022 undefeated, they deserve a spot in the final four no matter what anyone else does at this point.
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Oregon (8-1)
Oregon get’s this spot over Tennessee because they lost in Week One and not in Week Nine and would give the Dawgs a better game now than they did in early September. Another factor is they have more chances left to prove themselves with #18 Washington, #19 Utah, rival Oregon State (6-3) and potential Pac-12 Championship against USC or UCLA.
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Tennessee (8-1)
Still light years ahead of where folks thought they’d be in year two of Josh Heupel. And they’re bound for a New Year’s Six game. That’s the good news, the bad news is they don’t have anyone in the top 25 to prove themselves against. There best hope is to win out, for Georgia to pick up at least one regular season loss and lose to the same LSU squad in Atlanta that the Vols crushed in Baton Rouge. Chaos in the Big 12, Pac-12, and Big Ten wouldn’t hurt their cause either.
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Ole Miss (8-1)
They’re going to get an angry Alabama in a must-win game. Kiffin vs. Saban III should be fun as Ole Miss has more alive title hopes currently than Alabama. A win and an LSU loss to Arkansas would put Ole Miss in first place in the SEC West.
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USC (8-1)
The Trojans struggled with Cal but control their own Pac-12, and likely national destiny. It’s simple, keep on winning and you’re in.
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UCLA (8-1)
Like their cross-town rivals, the Bruins are in the pilot’s seat for their fate in the Pac-12 and nationally. Don’t lose again and you’re in.
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North Carolina (8-1)
UNC will be favored in every game until the ACC Championship Game. The ACC seems to be the Power Five conference on the outside looking in at this point, but that could very quickly change, just as it did this past weekend.
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Tulane (8-1)
The schedule gets tough with two of their last three ranked (Cincinnati and UCF) with an SMU team in between that scored 77 this past weekend.
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Liberty (8-1)
They’re having the best season in program history and are leaving independence behind in style.
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Coastal Carolina (8-1)
Controlling their own destiny as far as a Sun Belt Championship goes, and with a loss by Tulane and Liberty would be the team to represent the Group of 5 in a New Year’s Six Bowl.
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Clemson (8-1)
On the outside at the moment but plenty of room for them to climb their way up, but it will take some major offensive improvements for them to do so.
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LSU (7-2)
The best two-loss team in America and in first place in the SEC West and will likely see Georgia in Atlanta in December. Would be in the top eight if not for the loss to FSU and yet they are still the only two-loss team that can make the playoff at this point.
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Alabama (7-2)
For the first time since 2010, Bama has two losses before Thanksgiving. The schedule doesn’t get easier with Kiffin and Ole Miss and it would be only the second time in the college football playoff era that Alabama wasn’t in the playoff.
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Penn State (7-2)
Can’t take anyone lightly but has a favorable remaining three games and realistic hopes of making a New Year’s Six Bowl.
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Washington (7-2)
Huge game against Oregon coming up this weekend will set the tone for how the Huskies close out the 2022 season.
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Utah (7-2)
With divisions being abolished in the Pac-12, Utah still has a clear path to a second straight Pac-12 championship. Can’t sleep on Stanford this Saturday with the big game against Oregon coming up in two weeks.
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N.C. State (7-2)
One of only 24 teams in the FBS with a record of 7-2 or better and is looking for a double-digit win season.
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UCF (7-2)
A huge opportunity with Tulane up next to shake up and jump into the conversation to be the Group of 5’s representative in the New Year’s Six Bowl games.
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Cincinnati (7-2)
The Bearcats are still a team to be taken seriously and are looking to go into the Big 12 next year with momentum.
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UTSA (7-2)
The winners of six straight and having scored 30 or more eight of nine games this season, the Roadrunners are red hot and are the leaders of Conference USA.
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Illinois (7-2)
Still controlling their own destiny in the Wild Big Ten West but have no margin for error with tough game in Ann Arbor in two weeks.
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Notre Dame (6-3)
Steady improvement and a win over a top five team makes them the best (of many, many) 6-3 teams in America. They have a chance to get to 10 wins this season and play spoiler to rival USC to close the year.
Peach Bowl (Semi-Final) Georgia vs. USC
Fiesta Bowl (Semi-Final) Ohio State vs. TCU
Cotton Bowl – Tennessee vs. UCLA
Rose Bowl – Michigan vs. Oregon
Orange Bowl – North Carolina vs. Ole Miss
Sugar Bowl – LSU vs. Tulane
Championship Game in Los Angeles – Georgia over Ohio State
My college football playoff rankings are if the season ended TODAY. But the bowl projections are how I think the FUTURE will shake out the rest of the season. In my rankings, wins, and losses count. I will try my best to be consistent about this and never rank a team with two losses above a team with one loss.
My college football playoff rankings are how well a team is playing and how well they have played and not always who is the best at this time. I’ll give an example from this week. I don’t think the Liberty, Coastal Carolina, and Tulane are better than or would beat LSU if they played this week. I do think that Liberty, Coastal Carolina, and Tulane are having better seasons than LSU for the simple fact they have a better record, and better records should be a primary consideration in ranking teams.
Now for the New Years Six Bowls. Georgia finishes undefeated to stay the top dog. Ohio State finally gets things going on time the next two weeks to prepare for The Game where they win (otherwise Ryan Day will feel his seat getting warm), and TCU emerges undefeated from the Big 12. This will allow for a one-loss Pac-12 Champion to get in at the final spot over Tennessee because it will give committee a chance to avoid a first-round rematch.
Tennessee (and Ole Miss for that matter) are very much still alive if they can win out and get some help and get in at two or three. If LSU wins out, Georgia could get in without a conference title for the second straight year, but that’s where it stands right now.
Michigan and Oregon will play in a traditional Rose Bowl match up. An all Louisiana Sugar Bowl, and old school SEC game will take place between Tulane and LSU. ACC Champion North Carolina will take on Ole Miss and Tennessee will get UCLA in the Cotton Bowl. Clemson, Alabama, and Penn State are all three right in the pack in the race for one of the six big bowl games. Georgia would beat USC, and Ohio State would top TCU before the Bulldogs beat the Buckeyes in L.A. for their second straight championship.
Here’s the official college football playoff rankings for Week 10! Compare and see who you think has it right, me or the committee.
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College Football Playoff Rankings (Nov. 1)
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