News/Commentary

Playoff Committee Has Clemson, Auburn As Top Two

November 28, 2017 by Dave Congrove

Clemson and Auburn enter their respective conference championship games on Saturday as the No. 1 and 2 teams in this week's rankings by the College Football Playoff selection committee.

The final rankings will be announced on the selection show this Sunday at Noon ET on ESPN.

The top two teams in last week's rankings both lost over the Thanksgiving Day weekend. Then second-ranked Miami (FL) fell 24-14 at Pitt on Friday, and the top-ranked Alabama lost 26-14 at Auburn on Saturday. As a result, Clemson moves up from 3rd, and Auburn jumps from 6th.

Oklahoma inches upward from 4th to 3rd, and Wisconsin moves up a notch from 5th to 4th. Alabama falls to 5th while Miami lands in 7th, behind Georgia. Ohio State takes 8th, followed by Penn State and USC. TCU is ranked 11th.

UCF continues to hold the highest ranking among teams in the Group of 5 conferences, but the committee only upgraded the undefeated Knights from 15 to 14.

Here are the complete Selection Committee Rankings:

  Team W-L LW
1. Clemson 11-1 3
2. Auburn 10-2 6
3. Oklahoma 11-1 4
4. Wisconsin 12-0 5
5. Alabama 11-1 1
6. Georgia 11-1 7
7. Miami (Fla.) 10-1 2
8. Ohio State 10-2 9
9. Penn State 10-2 10
10 USC 10-2 11
11. TCU 10-2 12
12. Stanford 9-3 21
13. Washington 10-2 17
14. UCF 11-0 15
15. Notre Dame 9-3 8
16. Michigan State 9-3 16
17. LSU 9-3 18
18. Washington State 9-3 13
19. Oklahoma State 9-3 19
20. Memphis 10-1 20
21. Northwestern 9-3 22
22. Virginia Tech 9-3 25
23. Mississippi State 8-4 14
24. N.C. State 8-4 ---
25. Fresno State 9-3 ---

The College Football Playoff matches the No. 1 seed vs. No. 4, and No. 2 vs. No. 3 in semifinal games that rotate annually among the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Goodyear Cotton Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Allstate Sugar Bowl, Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual and PlayStation Fiesta Bowl. This season’s semifinals will take place Monday, January 1, 2018, at the Rose Bowl presented by Northwestern Mutual and the Allstate Sugar Bowl. The national championship game will be Monday, January 8, 2018, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.