US LBM Coaches Poll: How damaging was Ohio State’s loss to Michigan?
The latest US LBM Coaches Poll is here and Paul Myerberg explains the impact Ohio States shocking loss to rival Michigan.
Sports Pulse
The College Football Playoff rankings revealed on Tuesday what the CFP committee was thinking ahead of this week’s conference championship games.
While some teams may be safe heading into Sunday’s final rankings reveal, others are on the edge of their seats heading into conference championship games — like Alabama, the projected last at-large berth team in the 12-team field.
The ACC and Big 12 are likely to be one-bid leagues, meaning the winner of SMU-Clemson and Arizona State-Iowa State could be the only teams from their respective conferences in the field. Moreover, if the Tigers beat the Mustangs, the CFP selection committee must decide whether they will drop a two-loss SMU team completely out of the 12-team playoff in favor of the three-loss Crimson Tide.
Elsewhere, teams such as No. 1 Oregon and No. 2 Texas have a chance to lock down a first-round bye as they take on No. 3 Penn State and No. 5 Georgia, respectively.
And that’s to say nothing of the Mountain West or American Athletic Conference, whose games on Friday will go a long way in determining which team will earn the highest-ranked Group of Five bid in the playoff. Should No. 10 Boise State beat No. 19 UNLV on Friday in the Mountain West title game, it almost certainly will earn that bid, and likely even one of the coveted first-round byes.
Should the Rebels win, however, they likely would earn that coveted fifth automatic qualifier bid — unless one of No. 23 Army or unranked Tulane is dominant enough in the AAC title game to give the committee pause.
Here’s a live look at the CFP projections as conference championship games become finalized, including a look at what the CFP top 25 and projected 12-team bracket looked like heading into the final rankings release on Sunday:
This section will be updated once the games become finalized.
- Oregon (12-0): vs. No. 3 Penn State (Big Ten championship)
- Texas (11-1): vs. No. 5 Georgia (SEC championship)
- Penn State (11-1): vs. No. 1 Oregon (Big Ten championship)
- Notre Dame (11-1): N/A
- Georgia (10-2): vs. No. 2 Texas (SEC championship)
- Ohio State (11-1): N/A
- Tennessee (10-2): N/A
- SMU (11-1): vs. No. 17 Clemson (ACC championship)
- Indiana (11-1): N/A
- Boise State (12-1): beat No. 20 UNLV 21-7 (Mountain West Conference championship)
- Alabama (9-3): N/A
- Miami (10-2): N/A
- Ole Miss (9-3): N/A
- South Carolina (9-3): N/A
- Arizona State (10-2): vs. No. 16 Iowa State (Big 12 championship)
- Iowa State (10-2): vs. No. 15 Arizona State (Big 12 championship)
- Clemson (9-3): vs. No. 8 SMU (ACC championship)
- BYU (10-2): N/A
- Missouri (9-3): N/A
- UNLV (10-2): Lost 21-7 to No. 10 Boise State (Mountain West Conference championship)
This section will be updated throughout conference championship weekend.
- Oregon (12-0)*
- Texas (11-1)*
- SMU (11-1)*
- Boise State (12-1)*
- Penn State (11-1)
- Notre Dame (11-1)
- Georgia (10-2)
- Ohio State (10-2)
- Tennessee (10-2)
- Indiana (11-1)
- Alabama (9-3)
- Arizona State (10-2)*
* denotes automatic bid as conference champion
Boise State wins Mountain West: The Broncos built a 21-0 halftime lead and ran with it in the second half to win its second straight Mountain West title with a 21-7 win vs UNLV. Heisman candidate Ashton Jeanty finished with 209 yards and a touchdown on 32 carries.
With the win, Boise State is almost certainly the first to claim an automatic bid to the College Football Playoff, likely locking itself in as the No. 4 seed.
Army beats Tulane for AAC championship: The Black Knights complete an 11-1 regular season that saw them win the American Athletic championship. Army entered the game ranked 24th in the CFP Top 25, and even a 35-14 win is likely not enough to jump Army enough in the rankings to make the playoff.
The Army-Navy Game awaits, followed by a bowl non-CFP bowl game for the Black Knights.
Oregon, Texas, Penn State, Notre Dame and Georgia made up the top five CFP top 25 from Tuesday’s CFP rankings. The Ducks have been the No. 1 for the first five CFP rankings releases.
Here’s a complete look at the CFP top 25 from the most recent CFP rankings released by the CFP selection committee:
- Oregon (12-0)
- Texas (11-1)
- Penn State (11-1)
- Notre Dame (11-1)
- Georgia (10-2)
- Ohio State (10-2)
- Tennessee (10-2)
- SMU (11-1)
- Indiana (11-1)
- Boise State (12-1)
- Alabama (9-3)
- Miami (10-2)
- Ole Miss (9-3)
- South Carolina (9-3)
- Arizona State (10-2)
- Iowa State (10-2)
- Clemson (9-3)
- BYU (10-2)
- Missouri (9-3)
- UNLV (10-2)
- Illinois (9-3)
- Syracuse (9-3)
- Colorado (9-3)
- Army (10-1)
- Memphis (10-2)
