The Big Ten surged toward the top.
The Southeastern Conference reshuffled and regressed.
And if anything proved true after the latest College Football Playoff rankings were revealed Tuesday night, it’s that many more changes could be in store heading into the next few weeks.
“All I can say is there’s a lot of games left to play in the season with three weeks and a conference championship in four weeks from now,” said Warde Manuel, chair of the CFP selection committee. “There’s a lot of ball to be played. Every team in America is going to realize what I’m saying when (I say) the best thing that people can do is continue to win, and then let everything fall as it may in terms of the rankings.
“We’re just going to be watching week to week at how teams perform and ranking them as we see them.”
For now, the big takeaway is that the Big Ten reigns supreme.
Undefeated Oregon stayed No. 1 in the CFP rankings, but the Ducks’ view from the top changed dramatically after losses by Georgia, Miami (Fla.) and LSU last week. Those defeats led to four teams from the Big Ten climbing into the top five spots, as No. 2 Ohio State, No. 4 Penn State and No. 5 Indiana all closely followed top-ranked Oregon.
Texas (8-1) and Tennessee (8-1) climbed to third and seventh, respectively. BYU (9-0) remained undefeated and slid up to No. 6, while Oregon (10-0) and Indiana (10-0) are surprising flag-bearers for the Big Ten with two weeks remaining in the regular season.
After the Hoosiers handled Michigan last week, they reached the bye week with an extra seven days to prepare for a visit to the Horseshoe to take on Ohio State (8-1). Oregon defeated Ohio State 32-31 on Oct. 12.
A 12-team playoff debuts in December, opening the door to eight additional teams compared to the previous CFP bracket. Whereas even SEC teams with two losses would be all but eliminated from the original four-team playoff, No. 10 Alabama (7-2), No. 11 Ole Miss (8-2), No. 13 Georgia (7-2) and No. 15 Texas A&M (7-2) maintain a fighting chance to break into the 12-team bracket behind the current one-loss SEC teams.
Manuel said Ole Miss grabbed the committee’s attention by knocking off Georgia last week.
“We watched the game,” Manuel said. “We discussed it. It was really an impressive win for them, dominant on both sides of the ball against Georgia. They also had that win against South Carolina.
“The close loss against Kentucky was something that we discussed, as well, and then losing to LSU in overtime. But the reality is they beat a very good Georgia team, who, while struggling and inconsistent offensively, is still a great team. Georgia may have one of the best wins of the year by going to Texas and winning the way they did.
“It was impressive, and the committee was very impressed with what Ole Miss has done in their body of work this year, and particularly looking at how they played in that particular game.”
Both Georgia and Miami sustained disappointing losses. Georgia dropped nine spots in the rankings, whereas Miami dropped five spots.
Why the difference?
“Well, the obvious is the first loss for Miami and the second loss for Georgia,” Manuel said. “That obviously played a factor into it.”
Indiana is in the midst of the program’s first 10-win season, and first-year coach Curt Cignetti is attempting to author a season for the books. He said he realized quickly upon taking the job he was encountering a somber or defeated aura around the football program and vowed to shift it instantly.
History sides with the Buckeyes, who play Northwestern at Wrigley Field on Saturday. Ohio State has won 29 consecutive games against Indiana with an average margin of victory of 37 points. The last win for the Hoosiers in the series was in 1988.
Ohio State delivered Penn State its only loss this season, 20-13 on Nov. 2. The Nittany Lions are clear of their biggest regular-season obstacles on the schedule with trips to Purdue, Minnesota and a home game against Maryland left to play.
A variable without a precise measure at the moment is how the CFP committee reconciles head-to-head carnage in power conferences. The answer should become more telling in future rankings.
Georgia handed Texas its only loss but lost to Alabama and Ole Miss. The Longhorns still have a matchup with Texas A&M on Nov. 30.
Tennessee beat Alabama and visits Athens to challenge Georgia in one of the marquee matchups Saturday.
No. 8 Notre Dame (8-1) rides a seven-game winning streak into its Saturday game against Virginia before a potential playoff elimination game Nov. 23 with No. 24 Army (9-0) at Yankee Stadium. The Black Knights are 9-0 for the first time since 1996. Notre Dame lost to Northern Illinois 16-14 on Sept. 7.
Miami (Fla.) lost to Georgia Tech 28-23 last week and dropped to No. 9 in the rankings. The Hurricanes missed the chance to surge ahead in the rankings and are now square with No. 14 SMU (8-1), but the Mustangs are the only undefeated team in Atlantic Coast Conference play. SMU lost to BYU on Sept. 6.
An expanded playoff field could mean room for underdogs from outside the Power 4 conferences.
Boise State (7-1), which slipped from No. 12 to No. 13 in this week’s rankings, holds the Mountain West lead by a half-game over Colorado State. The Broncos are powered by Heisman Trophy candidate running back Ashton Jeanty — the FBS leader in rushing yards (1,525), rushing touchdowns (20), total touchdowns (21) and all-purpose yards (1,606).
CFP projected first-round byes: No. 1 seed Oregon, No. 2 seed Texas, No. 3 seed BYU, No. 4 seed Miami
CFP projected quarterfinal games (campus sites):
No. 9 seed Notre Dame at No. 8 seed Tennessee
No. 10 seed Alabama at No. 7 seed Indiana
No. 11 seed Ole Miss at No. 6 seed Penn State
No. 12 seed Boise State at No. 5 seed Ohio State
CFP rankings (different from seeds)
1. Oregon (10-0)
2. Ohio State (8-1)
3. Texas (8-1)
4. Penn State (8-1)
5. Indiana (10-0)
6. BYU (9-0)
7. Tennessee (8-1)
8. Notre Dame (8-1)
9. Miami (9-1)
10. Alabama (7-2)
11. Ole Miss (8-2)
12. Georgia (7-2)
13. Boise State (8-1)
14. SMU (8-1)
