College Football Playoff Rankings: Florida jumps to No. 6 spot in Iowa State’s top five
The sequel to the 2020 College Football Playoff rankings was released on Tuesday night, and the first five teams in the top 25 were unchanged as they have been for several weeks. Alabama remains the nation’s top-ranked team with Notre Dame, Clemson and Ohio State placing in the top four.
With the Buckeyes set to play in the BIG Ten Championship game against Northwestern on Saturday, questions have started to arise from the CFP about his candidacy, especially after Florida appears to have a list of contenders after being upset by LSU last week is.
Texas A&M remains as the first team to jump to No. 6 with Iowa State as the second team off the field. The Cyclones will face No. 10 Oklahoma on Saturday in the Big 12 Championship Game for the New Year’s six bids.
The Gators, despite their shocking loss, fell only one spot to reach No. 7 against the Crimson Tide ahead of the SEC Championship Game. This not only gives Florida at least a chance to make its way into the four-team field if everything shakes in its favor, it will give UF a pole ahead of Georgia to earn a new year-six spot Puts into position, which the Gators defeated on November 7, 44-28 head-to-head.
Cincinnati dropped one place to number 9 after sitting on the sidelines once again. It will face 23-year-old Tulsa in the AAC championship game with a six-year bid for the Beards. No. 12 Coastal Carolina is in contention that Cincinnati should lose.
Let’s take a look at the top of the overall CFP ranking 25. Keep reading for analysis from CBS Sports bowl expert Jerry Palm.
College Football Playoff Ranking, December 15
- Alabama (10-0)
- Notre Dame (10-0)
- Clemson (9-1)
- Ohio State (5-0)
- Texas A&M (7-1)
- Iowa State (8-2)
- Florida (8-2)
- Georgia (7-2)
- Cincinnati (8-0)
- Oklahoma (7-2)
- Indiana (6-1)
- Coastal Carolina (11-0)
- USC (5-0)
- Northwestern (6-1)
- North Carolina (8-3)
- Iowa (6-2)
- BYU (10-1)
- Miami (8-2)
- Louisiana (9-1)
- Texas (6-3)
- Oklahoma State (7-3)
- NC State (8-3)
- Tulsa (6-1)
- San Jose State (6-0)
- Colorado (4-1)
Analysis by bowls expert Jerry Palm
This week’s ranking provides more nitpicks than major squabbles. Unless you’re still on the Georgia-giant-overrated train. The Bulldogs provided a floor for the Gators’ decline in the rankings due to a head-to-head result. This floor is very high because Georgia is very high at number 8. He said, Dodge won its best win of the season in Missouri last week.
Unfortunately not for now. 9 Cincinnati, that victory was enough to put Georgia ahead of the Bearcats this week. Due to COVID-19 concerns, Cincinnati has suffered the loss of not being able to make its resume. It hurts to miss a chance to beat Tulsa on the road, even though the Bearcats still got a shot at the Golden Hurricane at home this week. Cincinnati was not a CFP contender anyway, but the Bearcats have a chance to end up with the highest ranking of the Group of Five team. The record is currently held by UCF, which finished eighth in 2018.
No. 11 Indiana is another team that has missed opportunities for its resume for six games of the new year. COVID-19 issues have canceled two opportunities for the Hodgers to play Purdue. More importantly, the Boilermakers did not get a chance to play for Indiana on December 12, a chance to play Iowa this week. The Hosiers may now need Oklahoma to lose the Big 12 championship game to get a chance in New Year Six. It is likely that Iowa State will fall far enough away with one loss to give Indiana a spot.
Miami took the biggest hit in the rankings this week after giving up nearly 800 yards and 62 points to UNC. As expected, the effect in the rankings was that it affected Miami more than helping Tarryl. The storm dropped eight places to reach 18th position, while UNC was ranked only two and ranked 15th. If both Notre Dame and Clemson qualified for the CFP, North Carolina would be the ACC representative for the Orange Bowl.
No. 12 Coastal Carolina still has the thinnest chance to make the New Year’s Six, not the highest-rated group of five champions. A major victory over No. 19 Louisiana in the Sun Belt Championship game would be needed and would help bring some players to the final top 10. With two of the six teams in the new year likely to end up below, it would take a ranking that high should only be selected as one big team.
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