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College Football Playoff Rankings: Committee Finally Gets it Right

By Luke Allen

EVANSTON, IL - NOVEMBER 03: Ian Book #12 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish looks to pass during the second half of a game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field on November 3, 2018 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
EVANSTON, IL - NOVEMBER 03: Ian Book #12 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish looks to pass during the second half of a game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field on November 3, 2018 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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The College Football Playoff rankings for week 12 were revealed on Tuesday night on ESPN.

The College Football Playoff committee released their latest rankings Tuesday night and I cannot say I have any gripes with them. Notre Dame remained at its third seed after decimating Syracuse over the weekend.

The top four remained the same, with all four teams respectively winning their games this weekend.

  1. Alabama (11-0) – defeated The Citadel 50-17

  2. Clemson (11-0) – defeated Duke 35-6

  3. Notre Dame (11-0) – defeated #12 Syracuse 36-3

  4. Michigan (10-1) – defeated Indiana 31-20

Although I may argue that Alabama has a cupcake schedule and could be jumped by both Clemson and Notre Dame, but Alabama fields wayyy too good of a team this year to be anywhere else than number one. I could also argue Notre Dame should jump Clemson for the second seed, but there is virtually no difference between the two and three seeds, since they end up playing each other on neutral turf anyway.

Here is how the rest of the top-10 shapes up: (UCF finally gets some respect and jumps Ohio State!)

5. Georgia (10-1) – defeated UMass 66-27

6. Oklahoma (10-1) – defeated Kansas 55-40

7. LSU (9-2) – defeated Rice 42-10

8. Washington State (10-1) – defeated Arizona 69-28

9. UCF (10-0) – defeated #23 Cincinnati 38-13

10. Ohio State (10-1) defeated Maryland 52-51 (OT)

So everyone besides UCF played a less than mediocre football team, including Ohio State, who almost lost and gave up 51 points to Maryland. Does UCF deserve to be higher? Absolutely, but the fact they cracked the top 10 and jumped Ohio State shows the respect the CFP has for them and the group of 5 programs. Also, how about Washington State? Quietly sneaking up into the top seven, the Cougars have looked unstoppable over the past several weeks.

Focusing back on Notre Dame, the Irish figure to finish the season with the third rank, so long as they win at USC this weekend. Unless something goes catastrophically wrong with Clemson or Alabama, the Clemson Tigers will keep the second spot and face off with Notre Dame in a CFP semifinal game in the Orange Bowl on December 29.

Next. Predicting the Colts' Next Six Games: Game by Game. dark

Clemson, in my opinion, is a bad match up for Notre Dame. The Tigers rushing attack is relentless, and when the run does not work, freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence can throw the ball. After all, he was considered the best pro passer coming out of high school since Peyton Manning. While I do not like this match up for Notre Dame, at least it is not Bama. Good luck Michigan, or whoever lands the fourth seed to end the season.

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