The College Football Playoff selection committee often stresses that it starts with a blank sheet of paper in ranking teams each week. But the committee might save some time this week if it re-uses last week’s paper.
The CFP’s top seven teams won Saturday, providing no apparent reason for any of them to fall when the new rankings are released shortly after 7 p.m. Tuesday.
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Last week’s top three teams — No. 1 LSU, No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Clemson — defeated unranked/overmatched opponents by margins of 21, 35 and 49 points, respectively. LSU’s offense racked up 714 yards against Ole Miss, but its defense allowed 614. Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields had 305 yards passing and four touchdown throws in a rout of Rutgers, which is 0-7 in the Big Ten. Clemson has won four consecutive games by 45 or more points, although the committee has expressed reservations about the Tigers’ schedule strength.
Whatever the quibbles about them, LSU, Ohio State and Clemson are now the only three unbeaten teams in the FBS.
Once-beaten Georgia seems set for a second consecutive week at No. 4 in the playoff committee's rankings after a 21-14 win at Auburn, which was No. 12 last week.
The Nos. 5, 6 and 7 teams — Alabama, Oregon and Utah — won by wide margins, although Bama lost its quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, who underwent hip surgery Monday in Houston.
The first change in Tuesday’s rankings could come at No. 8. Minnesota, last week’s No. 8 team, lost its first game of the season at then-No. 20 Iowa. It’ll be interesting to see if the Golden Gophers fall back behind one-loss Penn State, which dropped to No. 9 last week after losing at Minnesota.
Oklahoma, last week’s No. 10, could move up a spot or two after its comeback win at Baylor kept the Sooners in the playoff picture.
Georgia's opponent Saturday in Athens, Texas A&M, was unranked by the CFP last week but could slide into the Top 25 on Tuesday, as it did in both the Associated Press and coaches' polls at No. 24 this week. The Aggies are 7-3 with losses to three highly regarded teams (Clemson, Alabama and Auburn).
Texas A&M, which has won four consecutive games, closes its regular season with back-to-back road games against teams ranked in the playoff committee’s top four last week: After Saturday’s game in Sanford Stadium, the Aggies play at No. 1 LSU on Nov. 30.
The top four teams in the committee’s rankings on Selection Day, Dec. 8, will make the four-team playoff. One of the semifinals will be played in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Dec. 28. The other semifinal, also Dec. 28, will be in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz.
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