College playoff rankings: Gators drop one spot heading into SEC title game
It’ll be No. 1 vs. No. 7 in the SEC Championship game Saturday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Alabama remained the No. 1 team in the College Football Playoff selection committee’s next-to-last rankings of the season, released Tuesday night, while Florida dropped just one spot from No. 6 to No. 7 after an upset loss to LSU.
Alabama is a 17-point favorite over Florida, but the Crimson Tide (10-0) appears positioned for a berth in the four-team playoff regardless of the outcome in Atlanta.
Florida (8-2) is one spot ahead of Georgia (7-2) in the committee’s latest rankings on the basis of the Gators’ 44-28 win over the Bulldogs on Nov. 7. Georgia moved from No. 9 to No. 8 after routing Missouri.
The Bulldogs are ranked ahead of Florida in this week’s Associated Press and coaches’ polls, but the CFP committee tends to put considerable weight on head-to-head results when overall records are comparable.
The committee had “a lot of conversation about Georgia and Florida,” Gary Barta, the committee chairman, said on a conference call Tuesday night, “and I can tell you it was back and forth. A tough loss for Florida (to LSU). We did note that (star tight end) Kyle Pitts was out, and the committee recognizes when a player is unavailable.
“Georgia, on the other hand – ever since they added JT Daniels at quarterback, their offense has taken off. Watched them, they’re averaging about 40 points a game now in the last three games since Daniels came in. But Florida beat Georgia head-to-head.”
Unsurprisingly, the top five teams in the committee’s rankings remained the same as last week.
Notre Dame (10-0) and Clemson (9-1) are Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, entering their meeting in the ACC Championship game. Ohio State (5-0) is No. 4 heading into the Big Ten title game against No. 14 Northwestern (6-1).
Texas A&M (7-1) held on to No. 5, one position off the playoff pace.
Also in the top 10 are Iowa State at No. 6 (up one spot), undefeated Cincinnati at No. 9 (down one spot after not playing for a third consecutive week) and Oklahoma at No. 10. Iowa State (8-2) will play Oklahoma (7-2) in the Big 12 Championship game, while Cincinnati (8-0) is scheduled to face No. 23 Tulsa (6-1) in the American Athletic Conference title game.
Just outside the top 10, Indiana is ranked No. 11, undefeated (11-0) Coastal Carolina No. 12 and USC, the highest-ranked Pac-12 team, No. 13.
The 13-member playoff selection committee will issue its final rankings of the season Sunday, reflecting results of the conference championship games. Sunday’s rankings will determine the bracket for the playoff.
About the Author
Tim Tucker, a long-time AJC sports reporter, often writes about the business side of the games. He also had stints as the AJC's Braves beat writer, UGA beat writer, sports notes columnist and executive sports editor. He was deputy managing editor of America's first all-sports newspaper, The National Sports Daily.
