The College Football Playoff committee released its second rankings Tuesday with some puzzling decisions that centered around whether more emphasis is being placed on wins and losses compared to schedule strength.
Georgia dropped nine spaces to No. 12 after a loss to Mississippi. It was the second loss for the Bulldogs against a team in the top 11 of the rankings. The Bulldogs, however, also own a win against one-loss Texas, which improved to No. 3 despite no wins against teams in the top 25. Meanwhile, Miami lost for the first time to unranked Georgia Tech and only slipped five spots to No. 9.
So why is this important? Because it’s unavoidable that teams in the same conferences will finish with similar records and imbalanced schedules. It will be up to the committee to decide how to separate them, and their approach will be scrutinized.
In developments on the field, Colorado moved closer to the playoff and needs just to win out to make the field. LSU stumbled against Alabama and fell out of the postseason picture, raising questions about Brian Kelly’s future.
Looking ahead to Week 12, Georgia faces a do-or-die situation against Tennessee. The Bulldogs likely are out of the playoff contention with a loss, a surprising development that was the clear No. 1 team in the preseason.
Dan Wolken and Paul Myerberg of USA TODAY Sports discuss these topics and more in this week’s version of the College Football Fix.
UP AND DOWN: Army, Georgia lead CFP ranking winners and losers
SEC BIAS?: Playoff rankings didn’t do any favors to league usually favored
BOWL PROJECTIONS: SEC teams moving in and out of playoff field
CALM DOWN: The five biggest overreactions from Week 11 action
RE-RANK: Alabama, Mississippi among teams rising in NCAA 1-134