Georgia moved up one spot to No. 5 in the College Football Playoff selection committee’s latest rankings, which were released Tuesday night.
The committee placed these teams ahead of the Bulldogs: Alabama at No. 1, Clemson at No. 2, Notre Dame at No. 3 and Michigan at No. 4.
Alabama and Clemson are ranked in the same positions as last week, while Notre Dame and Michigan advanced one spot each.
The advances by Notre Dame, Michigan and Georgia were facilitated by LSU, ranked No. 3 last week, slipping to No. 7 after a 29-0 loss to Alabama.
The Nos. 1, 2 and 3 teams are undefeated. Michigan and Georgia have one loss apiece.
Rounding out the top 10 behind Georgia are: No. 6 Oklahoma, LSU, No. 8 Washington State, No. 9 West Virginia and No. 10 Ohio State.
Kentucky, ranked No. 9 last week, fell to No. 11 after its 34-17 loss to Georgia.
One interesting aspect of the latest rankings is that LSU and Kentucky didn’t fall farther after their sizable losses to Alabama and Georgia, respectively. At Nos. 7 and 11, LSU and Kentucky are the highest-ranked two-loss teams.
Selection committee chairman Rob Mullens, the athletic director at Oregon, pointed out that LSU has the most wins against teams currently ranked in the committee’s Top 25 (Auburn, Georgia and Mississippi State).
Auburn, Georgia’s opponent Saturday night in Athens, moved into the rankings at No. 24 after last week’s win over Texas A&M.
The new rankings -- the second set of the season by the CFP selection committee -- were unveiled between games of a college basketball doubleheader Tuesday night on ESPN.
The 13-member committee will re-rank teams each Tuesday through November. The group’s final ranking Dec. 2 will determine the playoff field, with the top four teams at that point securing berths. The No. 1 team will face No. 4 and No. 2 will face No. 3 in the semifinals, which this season will be played in the Orange and Cotton bowls on Dec. 29.
The national championship game will be played Jan. 7 in Santa Clara, Calif.
Although Georgia remains outside the top four at this point, the Bulldogs are on track to reach the playoff if -- big if -- they win their remaining regular-season games and beat Alabama in the SEC Championship game Dec. 1 at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
NEW CFP RANKINGS
1. Alabama 9-0
2. Clemson 9-0
3. Notre Dame 9-0
4. Michigan 8-1
5. Georgia 8-1
6. Oklahoma 8-1
7. LSU 7-2
8. Washington State 8-1
9. West Virginia 7-1
10. Ohio State 8-1
11. Kentucky 7-2
12. Central Florida 8-0
13. Syracuse 7-2
14. N.C. State 6-2
15. Florida 6-3
16. Mississippi State 6-3
17. Boston College 7-2
18. Michigan State 6-3
19. Texas 6-3
20. Penn State 6-3
21. Iowa 6-3
22. Iowa State 5-3
23. Fresno State 8-1
24. Auburn 6-3
25. Washington 7-3
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