If the playoff were today: Alabama-Clemson, Ohio State-Michigan in semis
Hit your snooze button.
The College Football Playoff selection committee kept No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Michigan and No. 4 Clemson in the same spots as last week in its fourth CFP ranking of the season, but Louisville sank from No. 5 to No. 11, and new No. 5 Washington took its spot on the bubble heading into the Apple Cup on Friday against Washington State.
The Huskies were followed by No. 6 Wisconsin and No. 7 Penn State, showing that No. 8 Oklahoma still has some work to do — and needs some upsets to happen – in order to move up. Oklahoma earned its first win of the season against a ranked opponent on Saturday at West Virginia, but it clearly wasn’t enough to sway the committee to bump it ahead of the two-loss Big Ten teams.
The Sooners and No. 12 USC have been two of the hottest teams in the country in recent weeks, as OU has won eight straight and the Trojans have won seven straight, but they remain on the outside looking in. It’s certainly possible that could change in the next two weeks, but the committee has made it clear again in this particular snapshot that both teams still need some help.
In the Group of 5, one-loss No. 19 Boise State and two-loss No. 20 Houston were both ahead of undefeated and No. 21 Western Michigan, again illustrating the committee’s emphasis on strength of…