Ohio State leaped LSU as the No. 1 team in this week's edition of the College Football Playoff rankings after defeating Penn State on Saturday. The Buckeyes return to the top spot, where they debuted in the season's first edition of the CFP rankings before dropping to No. 2 the last two weeks.
College Football Playoff Rankings1. Ohio State (11-0) 2. LSU (11-0) 3. Clemson (11-0) 4. Georgia (10-1) 5. Alabama (10-1) 6. Utah (10-1) 7. Oklahoma (10-1) 8. Minnesota (10-1) 9. Baylor (10-1) 10. Penn State (9-2) 11. Florida (9-2) 12. Wisconsin (9-2) 13. Michigan (9-2) 14. Oregon (9-2) 15. Auburn (8-3) 16. Notre Dame (9-2) 17. Iowa (8-3) 18. Memphis (10-1) 19. Cincinnati (10-1) 20. Boise State (10-1) 21. Oklahoma State (8-3) 22. USC (8-4) 23. Iowa State (7-4) 24. Virginia Tech (8-3) 25. Appalachian State (10-1) The rest of the top five remained unchanged, with No. 2 LSU followed by Clemson at No. 3, Georgia at No. 4 and Alabama rounding out the group. Oregon (9-2) fell from No. 6 to No. 14 after an upset loss at Arizona State on Saturday night. Utah moved up one into the No. 6 spot, followed by Oklahoma at 7, Minnesota at 8, Baylor at 9 and Penn State rounding out the top 10. LSU, which had been the top team in the past two rankings, dropped a spot by no fault of its own. The Tigers improved to 11-0 with an emphatic 56-20 win over Arkansas. But the committee determined that Ohio State's 28-17 win over a Penn State team that was ranked No. 6 at the time with a 9-1 record, was enough to bump the undefeated Buckeyes up to the top spot. CFP Selection Committee Chair Rob Mullens said Ohio State's defense makes it the more complete team. "Ohio State's been a complete team, and that win over Penn State was their third win against teams that we currently have ranked in the top 19," Mullens said. "Ohio State's been really good on both sides of the ball. "They're obviously both very good on the offensive side. And this week the committee felt that that win over Penn State again solidified that Ohio State's a little better on the defensive side of the ball." Clemson, like Ohio State and LSU, remains undefeated after having the weekend off. Georgia's offense struggled, but the Bulldogs persevered to improved to 10-1 with a 19-13 win over Texas A&M. Alabama, in its first game since losing quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to season-ending hip surgery, rolled in a 66-3 win over Western Carolina. New starter Mac Jones completed 10-of-12 passes for 275 yards and three touchdowns. The fifth and penultimate reveal of the CFP rankings is set for Dec. 3. The final rankings, which will reveal the New Year's Six teams and set the field for the College Football Playoff, is Dec. 8. With games against ranked conference rivals Saturday, Ohio State and Alabama will be perhaps the most tested top-five teams in the regular season's final games before conference championships. The Buckeyes visit No. 13 Michigan, and the Tide travel to No. 15 Auburn for the annual "Iron Bowl." LSU hosts Texas A&M on Saturday, Clemson visits South Carolina and Georgia plays at Georgia Tech. Minnesota, which hosts No. 12 Wisconsin on Saturday, has an outside shot at the CFP with a win. The Gophers would play Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game and the Allstate Playoff Predictor gives them a 48% chance to reach the playoff with a win in that scenario.
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- Just a quick note: Rankings listed reflect the AP Poll, as updated each Sunday, since the CFP Rankings don't come out until Tuesday nights. However, when I post the Bowl Schedule, once it is known, THAT will use the College Football Playoff Selection Committee's stated rankings. - Dave Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was carted off in the second quarter of Saturday's game against Mississippi State with a hip injury. He was airlifted back to Birmingham for CAT scans and MRIs.
Tagovailoa was injured with three minutes remaining before halftime when he was brought down by two Bulldogs defenders while rolling to his left on a third-down play. He suffered a bloody nose and couldn't put pressure on his right leg when he was helped up by trainers. A source told ESPN's Adam Schefter that there was concern before the end of the game that it was a "very serious" injury. Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said he doesn't know the severity of the injury but that he doesn't think it's related to the ankle injury that made Tagovailoa a game-time decision for Saturday's game. "It's kind of a freak thing that you seldom see," he said. "He was good, at least as good as he was a week ago in terms of his ability to move," Saban added. "I don't think anything he did affected his performance in the first half. So the guy played, and I thought he played really well. And we hate it that he got injured. We hate it for him. We hate it for his family. I hate it when any player on our team gets injured. So Godspeed to him and his entire family and our thoughts and prayers are with them and hope this is not so serious it has any long-term effect on his future as a player." Saban told ESPN's Molly McGrath that it was going to be Tagovailoa's final drive of the game. Saban said Tagovailoa was still in the game to practice a two-minute drill. "That was going to be his last series," Saban said. "We were going to do two-minute before the half was over just for practice. First, we've got to block them better so he doesn't get sacked. It's too bad." McGrath reported that Tagovailoa was undergoing X-rays. McGrath also reported that Tagovailoa was screaming in pain as trainers helped lift him off the cart. The Tide were leading 35-7 at the time of the injury. Tagovailoa was 14-for-18 for 256 yards with two touchdowns. Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is undergoing X-rays on the hip he injured against Mississippi State. Saban said the coaching staff considered putting backup quarterback Mac Jones into the game for Tagovailoa before the final series. "We can second-guess ourselves all we want," Saban said. "We told Mac to warm up. We were going to go 2-minute before the half, and Tua wanted to go in the game. So I don't really make a lot of decisions about guys getting hurt. ... We had total confidence in Mac, and Mac did a good job when he went in." Tagovailoa, a Heisman Trophy contender and potential top-10 pick in next spring's NFL draft, had surgery on his right ankle Oct. 20, a day after he was injured in the Crimson Tide's 35-13 victory over Tennessee. Surgeons performed a "tightrope" procedure on his right ankle, in which they drilled a hole from his fibula into the tibia and cast three tightropes through the bone and cinched it down to tighten it, according to Dr. Norman Waldrop, who was part of the medical team that performed a tightrope procedure on Tagovailoa's left ankle following the SEC championship game last season. Tagovailoa missed Alabama's 48-7 win over Arkansas on Oct. 26 but returned to start against LSU last week. His mobility was limited, but he still completed 21 of 40 passes for 418 yards with four touchdowns and one interception in the Crimson Tide's 46-41 loss to the Tigers. "The way I look at this whole thing is, Tua's our No. 1 quarterback and if he's physically able to play we want to play him in the game," Saban said when asked about the value of putting him in the game when ahead by 28 points. "That's what he wanted to do, and that's what our team wanted to do. If I would have known -- knowing that anything bad was going to happen, certainly I wouldn't have put him in that situation. But we're a team. We're a team that's trying to get better ... to see if we can finish the season the way we want." This could be the dirtiest play you will ever see in college football. 1. LSU
2. Ohio State 3. Clemson 4. Georgia 5. Alabama 6. Oregon 7. Utah 8. Minnesota 9. Penn State 10. Oklahoma 11. Florida 12. Auburn 13. Baylor 14. Wisconsin 15. Michigan 16. Notre Dame 17. Cincinnati 18. Memphis 19. Texas 20. Iowa 21. Boise State 22. Oklahoma State 23. Navy 24. Kansas State 25. Appalachian State Officially, the CFP Selection Committee isn't supposed to look ahead, and rank teams solely on what they have done so far. That doesn't stop us from analyzing the potential future though...So with that said, if this current set of rankings, assuming everyone at the top continues to win, there are going to be a lot of angry people. Why? Georgia at #4, Alabama at #5. Barring upsets, LSU and Georgia will be the two participants in the SEC Championship game. So, by the end, LSU will either be 12-1, or Georgia will be 11-2. If Georgia loses, they won't maintain their spot at #4, and Alabama will move up...Given the fact that the CFP Selection Committee only dropped Alabama to 5th after losing at home to LSU, I think we can also infer that if LSU somehow loses to Georgia in the SEC Championship, that LSU isn't likely to drop below Alabama, who they beat on their own field. That is, if LSU finishes 12-1, LSU won't drop any lower than #4. That means, the way the CFP currently has the board set up, There will be two SEC teams in the College Football Playoff. It will either be 13-0 LSU and 11-1 Alabama, or it will be 12-1 LSU and 12-1 Georgia. That means 12-1 Oregon? 12-1 Oklahoma? Sorry. You are out, despite being Power 5 Conference champions. The rankings right now, are telling you that even as a potential Conference champion, you won't get in ahead of a non-Conference winning SEC team, whether it's LSU or Alabama, despite having the same record. The CFP Selection Committee has realistically given us two possible outcomes: 1. 13-0 LSU 2. 13-0 Ohio State 3. 13-0 Clemson 4. 11-1 Alabama (Georgia loses SEC Title game) OR 1. 13-0 Ohio State 2. 13-0 Clemson 3. 12-1 Georgia 4. 12-1 LSU (Georgia wins SEC Title game) Barring some major upsets, they didn't leave room for anyone else. The only real chance OU or Oregon have, is for Clemson to somehow lose in the ACC title game or before, and for Penn State, Michigan, or the B1G West Champ to give Ohio State a loss (even then, if it's an undefeated Minnesota team that gives the Buckeyes the loss, that might put THEM in the CFP). Fact is, Oregon and Oklahoma don't control their own destinies. Both need help to have any chance at getting in, based on the way the CFP is ranking them.
www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/28034200/buckeyes-de-chase-young-vs-maryland-due-potential-ncaa-issue
From ESPN Ohio State Buckeyes defensive end Chase Young, a Heisman Trophy contender who has been the most dominant defensive player in the FBS this season, is being held out because of a potential undisclosed violation of NCAA rules, the university announced Friday. Young, a junior from Hyattsville, Maryland, will not play for the No. 1 Buckeyes in Saturday's game against Maryland "due to a possible NCAA issue from 2018 that the Department of Athletics is looking into," the school said in a release. Young tweeted Friday that he had accepted a loan from a family friend and is in the process of working with Ohio State and the NCAA to be able to play again. It is unclear if Young will miss additional games beyond the Maryland contest. Sources familiar with NCAA compliance told ESPN that similar violations can result in multigame suspensions, but that a number of variables -- including who the loan came from, how much it was for, proof of repayment and when the school knew of the violation -- could play a factor. The Buckeyes have four games remaining in the regular season. College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock told ESPN's Heather Dinich that it would be premature to talk about how Young's absence might impact Ohio State in Tuesday's selection committee ranking. Tim Nevius, an attorney and former NCAA investigator, confirmed he is working with Young. Nevius tweeted that Young "took a small loan from a close family friend last year to cover basic life expenses. Loan was repaid months ago and we're working to restore his eligibility." Young leads the FBS with 13.5 sacks and is tied for second with 15.5 tackles for loss. He tied Ohio State's single-game records for sacks (four) and tackles for loss (five) in the Buckeyes' last game, a 38-7 win over Wisconsin on Oct. 26. He needs a half-sack to tie Vernon Gholston's single-season team record set in 2007. "Having a player like Chase play the way he has clearly changes the game and makes everybody on that defense better because you have to account for him on every play," Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said after the Wisconsin win. "But that's only good if he plays that way, and he is." Young, at 6-foot-5 and 265 pounds, is considered a potential No. 1 pick in next spring's NFL draft if he decides to forgo his final season of eligibility with the Buckeyes. ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. ranked Young as the No. 1 player available for the 2020 draft on his latest Big Board. Information from The Associated Press was included in this report. 1. Ohio State (8-0)
2. LSU (8-0) 3. Alabama (8-0) 4. Penn State (8-0) 5. Clemson (8-0) 6. Georgia (7-1) 7. Oregon (8-1) 8. Utah (8-1) 9. Oklahoma (7-1) 10. Florida (7-2) 11. Auburn (7-2) 12. Baylor (8-0) 13. Wisconsin (6-2) 14. Michigan (7-2) 15. Notre Dame (6-2) 16. Kansas State (6-2) 17. Minnesota (8-0) 18. Iowa (6-2) 19. Wake Forest (7-1) 20. Cincinnati (7-1) 21. Memphis (8-1) 22. Boise State (7-1) 23. Oklahoma State (6-3) 24. Navy (7-1) 25. SMU (8-1) - Now, first things first. Despite being a Michigan fan, and my intense loathing of all things Ohio State, they deserve to be ranked #1 at this point. They haven't shown any signs of weakness all year, and have been the most consistently good team I have seen up to this point. - Not surprised by LSU being ranked above Alabama either. Unlike Alabama, LSU has already played highly ranked teams, and the committee is supposed to rank them based on where they are at right now, and not look ahead. This will matter later. - Clemson is outside, looking in. That's what happens when the ACC is terrible, and you haven't played a single damn real team all year. However, Clemson knows the deal. All they have to do is keep winning, and they are in. While the Committee can't look ahead, Clemson can. Clemson knows that Ohio State and Penn State still have to play, and they know that this weekend, either LSU or Alabama is taking a big fat L on the their schedule. Clemson is #5 at the moment, but it's only temporary. If they win out, the lowest they can possibly be ranked at the end of the regular season is #3. - Georgia is ranked over both the Big XII AND PAC-12 leaders. This could indicate that the CFP is very much considering putting a 1-loss SEC non-champion in the CFP, at the expense of a P5 conference champion. - Speaking of the Big XII and PAC-12, I do find it a little curious that both Oregon and Utah are ranked over Oklahoma. - At least we don't have any stupid arguments this year about the "group of 5"...the highest ranked G5 team is Cincy at #20, and there are no unbeatens. No UCF-type pretenders this year claiming they are the "real" national champion because they went undefeated playing a G5 schedule...
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