South Carolina Gamecocks. (Photo by Aiken Howard/Getty Images)
What will the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings hold in the Top 25 after Michigan beats Ohio State and loses to LSU, Clemson, and more?
It almost goes without saying that Rivalry Week is built for chaos, but we saw every bit of that throughout the weekend around Thanksgiving as the College Football Playoff rankings were thrown into an absolute blender. We should have known the madness was coming after the Wild Egg Bowl ended with Ole Miss losing again.
This, however, was just the beginning. By Saturday’s end, four of the teams ranked inside the top 10 — Ohio State, LSU, Clemson, and Oregon — had all moved into ranked or unranked teams. And some of those games weren’t even close. But even so, the College Football Playoff picture is now taking on a much clearer shape.
Now, only the conference championship games remain to decide which four teams will compete for a national championship. But what is the position of the College Football Playoff rankings after the final week of the regular season? Here’s what our predictions for the top 25 include.
Projected college football playoff standings after Week 13: No. 25-21
25. North Carolina Tar Heels
You can honestly make a case that back-to-back losses against Georgia Tech and short-handed NC State should take the Tar Heels out of the Top 25. This team has crumbled down the stretch, even star freshman quarterback Drake May. But really, they’re barely hanging on at 9-3 thanks to the fact that there aren’t many other worthy candidates to fill that spot. Talk about sneaky compliments.
24. Illinois Fighting Illini
Illinois gets an outside shot to get into the Big Ten Championship outside the West Division if Purdue loses to Indiana and the Illini beat Northwestern. While the Boilermakers didn’t get along, Bret Bielema’s team did its job with a 41-3 win and finished with an impressive 8-4 record. It wasn’t a signature win, but enough to propel them back into the world rankings.
23. Troy Troy
Within three quarters, it looked like Troy was about to blow his chance at a 10-win season by losing to a three-win Arkansas State team as they trailed 19-14 entering the final frame. Then the Trojans turned up the heat with a monster fourth quarter as they scored five touchdowns—three by Kimani Vidal—to escape to a 48-19 victory and into the Sun Belt championship game.
22. South Carolina Gamecocks
Even after the way Spencer Rattler and South Carolina dominated Tennessee a week ago, I was just as hesitant to give them a nod in the CFP rankings, as was the selection committee. But with the Gamecocks now beating Clemson and finishing the year at 8-4, they’ve earned more than a spot inside the Top 25.
21. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Clearly, anyone giving Notre Dame a chance to end the USC dream probably wasn’t paying attention. The combative Irish defense was not ready for what Caleb Williams and Lincoln Riley brought to the table while the offense simply did not have the firepower to match an attack of this caliber. It’s been a great rebound for Marcus Freeman this season, but this is a bad note at the end of the year.
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