The new college football playoff rankings were released on Tuesday and while the top three were still the same, the No. 4 position has changed.
Last week’s No. 4, Mississippi, dropped seven spots to No. 11 after losing 35-31 to Auburn on Saturday. That made room for Oregon to jump up one spot to the No. 4 position after its impressive 45-16 victory over Stanford.
Overall, Mississippi State, Florida State and Auburn remain in the top three spots while Alabama is right behind Oregon at No. 5.
Jeff Long, the Arkansas athletic director and selection committee chairman, talked about how close the voting was.
“It was very close, and I think it’s the product of Oregon’s other wins they have,” Long said. “They have the Michigan State win, but they also, again, went on the road against UCLA and won, and a couple of wins that made their body of work, put them a step ahead of (Alabama) at this point.”
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Here is the complete Top 10 breakdown:
- Mississippi State (8-0)
- Florida State (8-0)
- Auburn (7-1)
- Oregon (8-1)
- Alabama (7-1)
- TCU (7-1)
- Kansas State (7-1)
- Michigan State (7-1)
- Arizona State (7-1)
- Notre Dame (7-1)
To retain their No. 1 spot, Mississippi State struggled at home against Arkansas to win 17-10 in a game which saw the Bulldogs trailing at the half for the first time this season.
Florida State had to overcome a 21-0 deficit on the road last Thursday night at Louisville to pull out a dramatic 42-31 victory.
As it stands, Mississippi State and Florida State are the only remaining undefeated teams from the power-five conferences.
“We stayed pretty consistent with the way we looked at 1 and 2 with Mississippi State and Florida State,” Long said. “Auburn was a little bit behind in No. 3, but they were a solid No. 3.”
Conference USA leader Marshall, who is 8-0, did not make the Top 25 playoff rankings yet again.
Michigan State, who remained at No. 8, was leap-frogged by Kansas State who took the No. 7 position.
“Less about Michigan State, but more about Kansas State adding to their body of work,” Long said. The Wildcats most recently defeated Oklahoma State, 48-14.
But all that could change this weekend as Ohio State, ranked No. 14 in the playoff poll, visits Michigan State and Kansas State plays at No. 6 TCU this Saturday night.
Notre Dame remained steady at No. 10 but was jumped by Arizona State which moved up five spots to take over the No. 9 position. Those two teams play this Saturday in Arizona.
The final college football playoff rankings are set to be released on Dec. 7, the day after most of the conference championships have been decided.