After the first College Football Playoff rankings were released, eight ranked teams fell in Week 10. The Week 11 rankings were released on Tuesday, Nov. 7, which saw the same teams headline the top four — No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Michigan, and No. 4 Florida State — as well as the same bubble teams with Washington at No. 5 and Oregon clocking in at No. 6.
Before breaking down the rankings, here’s the full list:
| RANK | SCHOOL | RECORD | PREVIOUS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio State | 9-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Georgia | 9-0 | 2 |
| 3 | Michigan | 9-0 | 3 |
| 4 | Florida State | 9-0 | 4 |
| 5 | Washington | 9-0 | 5 |
| 6 | Oregon | 8-1 | 6 |
| 7 | Texas | 8-1 | 7 |
| 8 | Alabama | 8-1 | 8 |
| 9 | Ole Miss | 8-1 | 10 |
| 10 | Penn State | 8-1 | 11 |
| 11 | Louisville | 8-1 | 13 |
| 12 | Oregon State | 7-2 | 16 |
| 13 | Tennessee | 7-2 | 17 |
| 14 | Missouri | 7-2 | 12 |
| 15 | Oklahoma State | 7-2 | 22 |
| 16 | Kansas | 7-2 | 21 |
| 17 | Oklahoma | 7-2 | 9 |
| 18 | Utah | 7-2 | 18 |
| 19 | LSU | 6-3 | 14 |
| 20 | Notre Dame | 7-3 | 15 |
| 21 | Arizona | 6-3 | NR |
| 22 | Iowa | 7-2 | NR |
| 23 | Tulane | 8-1 | 24 |
| 24 | North Carolina | 7-2 | NR |
| 25 | Kansas State | 6-3 | 23 |
Ohio State hangs onto the top spot
Ohio State remains the CFP No. 1 for the second consecutive week despite a shaky outing against Rutgers on Saturday. Trailing 7-9 at the half, Ohio State garnered a second-half comeback, sparked by an interception return for six, which ended in four additional Buckeye touchdowns for a 35-16 win. The Buckeyes struggled to contain the Scarlet Knights’ ground attack, getting out-rushed 232-139 yards — the most rushing yards OSU has allowed all season.
💪 UNDEFEATED TRACKER: Here’s a look at all of the undefeated FBS teams
Though revealing weakness in Week 10, Ohio State has proven to the Committee that it’s the strongest program all around. The 9-0 Buckeyes are one of the seven remaining undefeated FBS teams, and have made the CFP rankings all 56 weeks they’ve been released — the only other team to do that is Alabama.
Top matchups to watch in Week 11
There will be two top-10 matchups in college football’s Week 11. Ole Miss jumped up from No. 10 to No. 9 to set up a No. 2 vs. No. 9 matchup with Georgia, while Penn State surged into the top 10 after a strong 51-15 win against Maryland last Saturday, heading into a date with No. 3 Michigan this week.
Below are some of the ranked-vs-ranked matchups to watch in Week 11:
- No. 2 Georgia vs. No. 9 Ole Miss | 7:00 p.m. | ESPN
- No. 3 Michigan at No. 10 Penn State | 12 p.m. | FOX
- No. 5 Washington vs. No. 18 Utah | 3:30 p.m. | FOX
- No. 13 Tennessee at No. 14 Missouri | 3:30 p.m. | CBS
Conference breakdown
Each Power 5 conference has dogs in the fight at this point in the season, with at least three teams in the CFP rankings. The SEC leads the conferences with 6 ranked teams, followed by the Pac-12 and Big 12 with 5, the Big Ten with 4 and the ACC with three.
The SEC and Big Ten have the most schools in the top 10, each with three apiece.
The biggest losers
Consecutive losses for No. 17 Oklahoma have sent the Sooners spiraling in the polls. Ranked No. 6 in the AP poll in Week 9, the Sooners fell to Kansas 33-38 to put them at No. 9 in the first CFP rankings. Another tight-margin loss in Week 11 to Oklahoma State pushes the Sooners out of the top 10 for the first time since Week 7.
No. 19 LSU and No. 20 Notre Dame both fell five slots after the first CFP rankings and are two of the four three-loss teams in the top 25. The Tigers just couldn’t get past Nick Saban this week — a turnover, missed tackles and a late injury sustained by QB Jayden Daniels sent LSU, and their CFP hopes, packing. As for Notre Dame, a 23-31 loss to a lackluster Clemson squad knocks the Sam Hartman train down a few pegs.
The newbies
Arizona, Iowa and North Carolina enter the mix.
No. 21 Arizona infiltrated one of the best defenses in the country during Week 10, knocking UCLA out of the CFP race for now. With this win, Arizona is 6-3 and bowl eligible for the first time since 2017. Their marquee wins have been over ranked Washington State and Oregon State, and the Wildcats look to overcome Pac-12 challengers Colorado, Utah and Arizona State in the coming weeks to stay in the rankings.
The No. 22 Hawkeyes are known for stifling opposing offenses — ranking fourth in the nation for scoring defense with 13.67 points allowed — as they held Northwestern to a meager touchdown and 170 total yards on Saturday. A ball kicked between the crossbars with 14 seconds remaining gave Iowa the advantage as they moved to 7-2 on the season.
No. 24 North Carolina enters the CFP rankings for the first time in 2023 after being ranked as well as AP No. 10 in prior weeks. Losses to unranked Virginia and Georgia Tech — teams that had four combined wins going into their bouts with UNC — were UNC’s downfall, but a convincing 59-7 win over the Campbell Camels granted the Tar Heels another week in the polls. Projected NFL first-round pick Drake Maye leads the Tar Heels, ranking fourth in the nation with 2803 passing yards, and has found targets in his top-tier wide receiver room, including Tez Walker. In his five outings since the NCAA granted his eligibility to play, Walker leads the team with six touchdowns and an average of 87.6 receiving yards.
The teams have three more weeks to impress the Committee before CFP selections are made on Dec. 3. See the full CFP rankings schedule here.
Colleges with the most overall No. 1 picks in NFL draft history
17 of the best walk-ons in college football history
Leave a Reply