What will the 2020 College Football Playoff top 25 rankings be when the next-to-last round is released on Tuesday night?
How awesome are the College Football Playoff rankings? Who else uses the word penultimate?
Here’s the last practice exercise – sorry, the penultimate rankings projection – before this gets real on Sunday. Don’t read too much into this week, but how far up will USC move? How far down will Florida fall? This will at least show where everyone stands – sort of – going into the conference championships.
Trying to read the room in Grapevine, Texas …
College Football Playoff Rankings Prediction Top 25 Projection
25. Colorado Buffaloes 4-1
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 21
The Case For This Spot: Flip a coin between Colorado and Liberty for this spot. The Buffs weren’t awful against Utah in the loss – the 38-21 final score is a bit worse than the game was – but wins over UCLA, Stanford and San Diego State are stronger now.
Up Next: Possible Bowl Game
24. San Jose State Spartans 6-0
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: Not Ranked
The Case For This Spot: This might be way, way, way too low. The Spartans are not just 6-0 in what’s turning into one of the best seasons in the program’s history; they’ve won all six by double-digits including a 30-20 performance against Nevada.
Up Next: Boise State (Mountain West Championship)
23. Tulsa Golden Hurricane 5-1
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 24
The Case For This Spot: There won’t be any real movement after not being able to play Cincinnati last week, but get the job done in the American Athletic Conference Championship, and the Golden Hurricane should be up in the top 15 – at least.
Up Next: Cincinnati (AAC Championship)
22. NC State Wolfpack 8-3
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 23
The Case For This Spot: Closing out with a four-game winning streak was enough to get the Wolfpack some top 25 love, and now it’s time to move up just a bit.
Up Next: Possible Bowl Game
21. Oklahoma State Cowboys 7-3
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 24
The Case For This Spot: Destroying Baylor 42-3 will move up the Cowboys a few spots. The losses in three of the last six games will be enough to keep them just outside of the top 20, but they’ll get close.
Up Next: Possible Bowl Game
NEXT: Top 20 College Football Playoff Rankings Prediction
College Football Playoff Rankings Prediction Top 20 Projection
20. Texas Longhorns 6-3
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 20
The Case For This Spot: There probably won’t be any movement after last week. The loss to TCU now looks a whole lot stronger and beating Oklahoma State and West Virginia is a bit more impressive than it might seem.
Up Next: Possible Bowl Game
19. Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns 9-1
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 19
The Case For This Spot: There is no case for this – the Ragin’ Cajuns should be ahead of the Iowa State team it beat earlier in the year. A win over Coastal Carolina in the Sun Belt, though, should mean a top 15 spot after the end of the regular season.
Up Next: Coastal Carolina (Sun Belt Championship)
18. Miami Hurricanes 8-2
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 10
The Case For This Spot: How low if the floor after getting rolled 62-26 by North Carolina? This might be about it, but all that matters is that the Canes will be behind the Tar Heels – that takes the Orange Bowl off the table.
Up Next: Bowl Game
17. BYU Cougars 10-1
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 18
The Case For This Spot: BYU will move up a little bit with all of the movement up top and after a win over San Diego State. Any New Year’s Six dreams are done, though – it already accepted the invite to the Boca Raton Bowl.
Up Next: UCF (Boca Raton Bowl)
16. Iowa Hawkeyes 6-2
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 16
The Case For This Spot: On a six-game winning streak, there aren’t any wins over anyone who’ll finish the regular season with a winning record, and the loss to Purdue stinks, but this might be a top 15 team.
Up Next: Michigan
NEXT: Top 15 College Football Playoff Rankings Prediction
College Football Playoff Rankings Prediction Top 15 Projection
15. Northwestern Wildcats 6-1
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 14
The Case For This Spot: That loss to Michigan State now looks really, really, really bad. The win over Iowa earlier this season might be enough to get the Cats up to 12ish or so, but all that matters is beating Ohio State. Do that, get a few breaks, and the top four is at least in the final discussion.
Up Next: Ohio State (Big Ten Championship)
14. North Carolina Tar Heels 8-3
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 17
The Case For This Spot: How much will the Tar Heels be forgiven for past sins? The 62-26 win over Miami was special, but the losses to Florida State and Virginia aren’t okay. All that matters is being ahead of Miami to get the ACC’s spot in the Orange Bowl if Notre Dame and Clemson get into the College Football Playoff.
Up Next: Possible Bowl Game
13. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 11-0
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 13
The Case For This Spot: It all depends on whether or not the committee actually watched the game against Troy. If it didn’t, Coastal Carolina might move to just outside of the top ten. On merit, this ranking might end up being about right.
Up Next: Louisiana (Sun Belt Championship)
12. USC Trojans 5-0
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 15
The Case For This Spot: The Trojans should be higher. If the committee is going to put a 5-0 Ohio State in the top four, they need to think about putting a 5-0 USC closer to the pin than this. However, don’t be shocked if that actually happens and the ranking is about 8 or so as an unbeaten Power Five team.
Up Next: Oregon (Pac-12 Championship)
11. Indiana Hoosiers 6-1
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 12
The Case For This Spot: The claim to fame is losing to Ohio State. Beating Wisconsin isn’t that great – there won’t be any wins over anyone who’ll finish the regular season with a winning record.
Up Next: Purdue
NEXT: Top Ten College Football Playoff Rankings Prediction
College Football Playoff Rankings Prediction Top 10 Projection
10. Oklahoma Sooners 7-2
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 11
The Case For This Spot: The Sooners should slide into the top ten and maybe even a little bit higher depending on how many the committee is at Florida. There’s almost no chance at getting into the playoff, but win the Big 12 Championship and go to a New Year’s Six bowl.
Up Next: Iowa State (Big 12 Championship)
9. Georgia Bulldogs 7-2
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 9
The Case For This Spot: If the committee is going by how well teams are playing right now – and take into account the quarterback change to JT Daniels has changed everything – Georgia should be sixth. It could actually be 8, though, ahead of …
Up Next: Possible Bowl Game
8. Florida Gators 8-2
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 6
The Case For This Spot: This is a total guess – more than everything else on this list. Here’s the call – and it’s a weak one at that – the committee will sort of recognize Florida as a great team that had a weird loss to LSU, won’t want to put it behind a Georgia team it thumped, but … don’t be shocked if this is a few spots too high.
Up Next: Alabama (SEC Championship)
7. Cincinnati Bearcats 8-0
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 8
The Case For This Spot: Fine. Whatever. The only reason why this matters is for the New Year’s Six – the Bearcats have a hard ceiling on how high they can go.
Up Next: Tulsa (AAC Championship)
6. Iowa State Cyclones 8-2
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 7
The Case For This Spot: This doesn’t make a whole lot of sense – losses to Louisiana and Oklahoma State – but the College Football Playoff liked them enough to put the Cyclones No. 7 last week, and there’s no one to move ahead of them. Don’t get too excited, Iowa State fans – getting up to 5 should be as close as the team can possibly get.
Up Next: Oklahoma (Big 12 Championship)
NEXT: Top Five First College Football Playoff Rankings Prediction
College Football Playoff Rankings Prediction Top 5 Projection
5. Texas A&M Aggies 7-1
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 5
The Case For This Spot: On the one hand, the win over Florida doesn’t look so great now. On the other, if the Gators beat Alabama for the SEC Championship – and with a whole lot of help – A&M might really have a shot. A&M has accomplished a whole lot more than the No. 4 team …
Up Next: at Tennessee
4. Ohio State Buckeyes 5-0
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 4
The Case For This Spot: There’s really no argument for the Buckeyes to be here outside of the Just Because argument. But the CFP committee already said it liked Ohio State a few weeks ago – just because – and that’s not going to change.
Up Next: Northwestern (Big Ten Championship)
3. Clemson Tigers 9-1
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 3
The Case For This Spot: It’s actually a bit more of an argument than you might think on merit – Miami is the only really strong win, and … come on. It’s a win away from the No. 2 spot.
Up Next: Notre Dame (ACC Championship)
2. Notre Dame Fighting Irish 10-0
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 2
The Case For This Spot: There’s no movement. Alabama cemented its spot that much more at the 1, but it doesn’t matter. Win this week, go to the Rose Bowl. Lose tastefully, (most likely) go to the Sugar and face Alabama.
Up Next: Clemson (ACC Championship)
1. Alabama Crimson Tide 10-0
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 1
The Case For This Spot: Over the last five games since sneaking past Tennessee 48-17, Alabama has outscored its opponents by a combined score of 253 to 36. That’s pretty good.
Up Next: Florida (SEC Championship)
