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Rankings and Ratings
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December 15th
Surprise! CU remains ranked (No. 25) in College Football Playoff Rankings
From CBS Sports … The penultimate edition of the 2020 College Football Playoff Rankings was released Tuesday night, and the first five teams in the top 25 were unchanged as they have been for multiple weeks. Alabama remains the top-ranked team in the nation with Notre Dame, Clemson and Ohio State filling out the top four.
With the Buckeyes set to play in the Big Ten Championship Game against Northwestern on Saturday, questions about their candidacy from the CFP seem to have dissipated, especially as the list of contenders seemingly shrunk after Florida was upset by LSU last week.
Texas A&M remains as the first team out with Iowa State jumping up to No. 6 as the second team outside of the field. The Cyclones will face No. 10 Oklahoma on Saturday in the Big 12 Championship Game for a New Year’s Six bid.
The Gators, despite their shocking loss, only dropped one spot to No. 7 ahead of the SEC Championship Game against the Crimson Tide. That not only gives Florida at least an outside chance of making its way into the four-team field if everything shakes out in its favor, it likely puts UF in pole position to earn a New Year’s Six spot ahead of Georgia, which the Gators beat 44-28 head-to-head on Nov. 7.
Cincinnati fell one spot to No. 9 after once again sitting on the sidelines. It will face No. 23 Tulsa in the AAC Championship Game with a New Year’s Six bid on the line for the Bearcats. Coastal Carolina at No. 12 is in contention for that spot should Cincinnati lose.
College Football Playoff Rankings, Dec. 15
- Alabama (10-0)
- Notre Dame (10-0)
- Clemson (9-1)
- Ohio State (5-0)
- Texas A&M (7-1)
- Iowa State (8-2)
- Florida (8-2)
- Georgia (7-2)
- Cincinnati (8-0)
- Oklahoma (7-2)
- Indiana (6-1)
- Coastal Carolina (11-0)
- USC (5-0)
- Northwestern (6-1)
- North Carolina (8-3)
- Iowa (6-2)
- BYU (10-1)
- Miami (8-2)
- Louisiana (9-1)
- Texas (6-3)
- Oklahoma State (7-3)
- NC State (8-3)
- Tulsa (6-1)
- San Jose State (6-0)
- Colorado (4-1)
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More bowl projections – Pundits can’t decide if CU or Washington gets the Alamo Bowl
From AthlonSports.com …
– Fiesta Bowl
Tie-In: At-Large vs. At-Large
Projection: USC vs. Iowa State
– Alamo Bowl
Tie-In: Big 12 vs. Pac-12
Projection: Oklahoma State vs. Colorado
– Armed Forces Bowl
Tie-In: Pac-12 vs. SEC
Projection: Mississippi State vs. Washington
– Independence Bowl
Tie-In: Army vs. Pac-12
Projection: Oregon vs. Army
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From CollegeFootballNews …
PlayStation Fiesta Bowl
Saturday, January 2
ESPN, 2:00
State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ
At-Large vs. At-Large
Projection: USC vs. Indiana
Valero Alamo Bowl
Tuesday, December 29
ESPN, 7:00 pm
Alamodome, San Antonio, TX
Bowl Tie-Ins: Big 12 vs. Pac-12
Projection: Iowa State vs. Washington
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Thursday, December 31
ESPN, 10:00 am
Amon G. Carter Stadium, Fort Worth, TX
Bowl Tie-Ins: Pac-12 vs. SEC
Projection: Oregon vs. Mississippi State
Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl
Saturday, December 26
ESPN, 7:00 pm
Independence Stadium, Shreveport, LA
Bowl Tie-Ins: Army vs. Pac-12
Projection: Army vs Colorado
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From Brett McMurphy at watchstadium.com …
Fiesta Bowl – Jan. 2 (at-large vs. at-large)
Projection: USC vs. Indiana
Alamo Bowl – Dec. 29 (Big 12 vs. Pac-12)
Projection: Oklahoma vs. Washington
Armed Forces Bowl – Dec. 31 (SEC vs. Pac-12)
Projection: Mississippi State vs. Oregon
Independence Bowl – Dec. 26 (Army vs. Pac-12)
Projection: Army vs. Colorado
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From ESPN … With the College Football Playoff selection show (ESPN and ESPN App, noon ET) just a week away, there is a little shake-up in our weekly projections.
After No. 6 Florida’s shocking loss against LSU, one ultimately decided by an untimely penalty after the Gators’ Marco Wilson tossed a cleat down the field, we are looking at a different semifinals lineup.
Teams that have opted out of bowl games so far are Boston College, Pitt, Virginia and Stanford. LSU has self-imposed a bowl ban.
ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach make their latest picks. This will be updated as game matchups become locked in.
PlayStation Fiesta Bowl – January 2nd
State Farm Stadium (Glendale, Arizona)
2 p.m. (MT) on ESPN and the ESPN App
Bonagura: USC vs. Indiana
Schlabach: USC vs. Indiana
Valero Alamo Bowl – December 29th
Alamodome (San Antonio)
7 p.m. (MT) on ESPN and the ESPN App
Bonagura: Oklahoma vs. Washington
Schlabach: Iowa State vs. Colorado
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Amon G. Carter Stadium (Fort Worth, Texas)
10:00 am (MT) on ESPN and the ESPN App
Bonagura: Colorado vs. Missouri
Schlabach: Washington vs. Mississippi
Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl – December 26th
Independence Stadium (Shreveport, Louisiana)
5 p.m. (MT)) on ESPN and the ESPN App
Bonagura: Army vs. Oregon
Schlabach: Army vs. Oregon
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From CBS Sports …
PlayStation Fiesta Bowl – January 2nd
State Farm Stadium (Glendale, Arizona)
2 p.m. on ESPN and the ESPN App
USC vs. Indiana
Valero Alamo Bowl – December 29th
Alamodome (San Antonio)
7 p.m. (MT) on ESPN and the ESPN App
Iowa State v. Washington
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Amon G. Carter Stadium (Fort Worth, Texas)
10:00 am (MT) on ESPN and the ESPN App
Colorado v. Mississippi
Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl – December 26th
Independence Stadium (Shreveport, Louisiana)
5 p.m. (MT)) on ESPN and the ESPN App
Oregon v. Army
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December 14th
In a 32-game playoff: No. 27 CU v. No. 6 Oklahoma (four teams from Pac-12 in bracket)
From ESPN …
An expanded 2020 College Football Playoff
In politics, the “Overton window” is a term that describes the range of policies that are regarded as publicly acceptable. Over time, the window can shift based on cultural changes or the work of politicians and others to reframe what is deemed acceptable.
I should probably thank the ACC Network’s Mark Richt, then, for doing his part to shift the conversation in such a way that an eight-team playoff seems all the more acceptable.
Never mind a small expansion, the former Georgia and Miami coach says, let’s blaze our way straight to 32 teams!
Based on my rough guess of how the CFP rankings might turn out (and who might win conference title games), we would end up with something like this for such an event:
- 32 Marshall (Conference USA champ) at 1 Alabama (SEC champ)
- 17 Miami at 16 Iowa
- 24 Buffalo (MAC champ) at 9 Iowa State
- 25 Tulsa at 8 Georgia
- 21 NC State at 12 Indiana
- 28 Liberty at 5 Texas A&M
- 20 Oklahoma State at 13 Coastal Carolina (Sun Belt champ)
- 29 Oregon at 4 Notre Dame
- 22 Auburn at 11 USC (Pac-12 champ)
- 27 Colorado at 6 Oklahoma (Big 12 champ)
- 19 Texas at 14 North Carolina
- 30 Missouri at 3 Ohio State (Big Ten champ)
- 23 Louisiana at 10 Florida
- 26 Washington at 7 Cincinnati (AAC champ)
- 18 BYU at 15 Northwestern
- 31 Boise State (MWC champ) at 2 Clemson (ACC champ)
In one way, this is an unexpectedly elegant idea — why worry about years and years of bracket creep when you can just blow it out to the max in one fell swoop?
You can, however, find just a few teams on that list that maybe, kind of, sort of haven’t earned a shot at a national title.
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CBS Sports 1-127: CU remains in the Top 25 (at No. 22; second in the Pac-12)
From CBS Sports … The top five teams in the CBS Sports 127, our ranking of every FBS team in college football, remained the same after four of the five were off in Week 15, but shake-ups this week stemmed from losses for a pair of top 10 teams, facilitating new arrivals at the top of our balloting from CBS Sports and 247Sports experts.
Florida only fell from No. 6 to No. 8 after its loss to LSU on Saturday night, while Miami tumbled from No. 9 all the down to No. 20. That opened up a spot in the top 10 which was taken by Coastal Carolina, reaching its highest-ever ranking in CBS Sports 127 history at No. 9 after its thrilling win at Troy on Saturday.
The Chanticleers had their undefeated season on the ropes in the final tune-up before the Sun Belt Championship Game, but Grayson McCall led the offense down the field for a go-ahead touchdown with 45 seconds left to survive with a 42-38 win. It was a tough spot coming after the epic win against BYU and one week before a rematch with Louisiana, but Coastal Carolina avoided the upset to improve to 11-0 and move up to take Miami’s spot at No. 9 in the rankings.
The Chanticleers will host Louisiana, which checks in at No. 16 this week in the CBS Sports 127, next Saturday for the Sun Belt Championship.
Further down in the rankings North Carolina saw a slight bump up to No. 17 after its 62-26 win at Miami, Colorado dropped two spots down to No. 22 after its first loss of the season and San Jose State makes its first arrival in the top 25 this season after improving to 6-0 with a win against Nevada. For more on the notable moves up and down in this week’s balloting, check out the Mover’s Report below.
From the Pac-12 …
- No. 13 … USC … up two spots from last week
- No. 22 … Colorado … down two spots
- No. 30 … Washington … unchanged
- No. 34 … Utah … up 18
- No. 37 … Oregon … down one
- No. 43 … UCLA … down three
- No. 44 … Stanford … up six
- No. 46 … Arizona State … up 35 (!)
- No. 59 … Oregon State … down 15
- No. 74 … Washington State … down 18
- No. 77 … Cal … down four
- No. 84 … Nebraska … down six
- No. 89 … Michigan State … down nine
- No. 110 … Colorado State … down three
- No. 112 … Arizona … down eight
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