The College Football Playoff picture continues to become more clear as conference championship weekend looms.
Our top four remains the same from last week as those teams continued their make their case for inclusion by notching wins to close out their respective regular seasons. Clemson wasn’t exactly convincing against in-state rival South Carolina but got the job done nonetheless and continue to remain the top-ranked team in the rankings this week. Next up for them is the ACC title game against a North Carolina team that hasn’t lost since the opening week of the season against that same Gamecock team.
Alabama stays at number two after a 29-13 win over Auburn in the Iron Bowl. The Crimson Tide got an absurd effort from running back Derrick Henry who rushed for 271 yards on a whopping 46 carries. For all intents and purposes, he may have wrapped up the Heisman Trophy with that performance.
Michigan State and Iowa continued to roll and will now meet in Indianapolis for the Big Ten championship, with the winner all but assured of representing the conference in the CFP. The Hawkeyes aren’t getting a lot of respect despite finishing the regular season with a perfect 12-0 record. Nevertheless, they’ll have their opportunity to prove the doubters wrong this coming Saturday.
Oklahoma clinched the Big 12 title with a dominant win over Bedlam rival Oklahoma State and by doing so may have assured themselves of a spot in the semifinals. They got a lot of help from Stanford who defeated Notre Dame in pulse-pounding fashion, thus ending the Irish’s hopes of making the CFP.
Further down the rankings, Houston and Temple certainly helped their causes in terms of making a New Year’s Six bowl. After fairly convincing wins against Navy and Connecticut respectively, the two will meet in the American Conference championship game with the winner likely getting the Group of Five invite to one of the major bowls.
With the selection committee’s announcement of college football’s final four just a week away, only a handful of teams remain in contention. Saturday’s conference title games will go a long way towards clarifying how it all pans out.
LWOS College Football Week 13 Top 25
(As usual, a reminder to our mobile readers to please turn your screen sideways so you can see our entire rankings.)
Dropped from rankings: UCLA (20), Mississippi State (21), Washington State (24)
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