Ohio State surges in CFP rankings, joining Alabama, Michigan, Clemson

This loss also re-opens the door for teams like Ohio State, Louisville, and Wisconsin.

Tennessee made its debut appearance in the College Football Playoff rankings.

Alabama was the easy No. 1 seed back when there were other undefeated Power 5 teams; now the gap is nearly impossibly wide.

For the ACC to have two teams in the College Football Playoff, Clemson must win the ACC championship, and there must be upsets in the other Power 5 championship games. The team was out of the playoff picture after losing to the Crimson Tide, but the constant changes in the standards of the committee caused them to drop an obscene amount of spots. It’s hard to answer this question because nobody has been in Louisville’s situation before. The MAC and Mountain West each have one team in the rankings. With three weeks of play left, this season looks like another empty one for the Big 12.

The playoff committee didn’t seem to agree with the majority of people, as they dropped the team ELEVEN SPOTS in their updated rankings. Their 21-point loss at Ohio State is yet another Big Ten selling point. WSU also could secure a spot in the conference title game on Saturday with a win against Colorado and a UW loss to ASU. Texas A&M was in ideal shape to sneak into the Playoff, as they had only one loss (to Bama), a No. 4 spot in the CFP rankings, and a relatively easy schedule the rest of the way. Where did those teams wind up in the new rankings? Oklahoma State 12. Utah 13. They are going to require some extra chainsaws, wood-chippers and perhaps some FEMA assistance to straighten out this mess and come up with the final playoff four.

Help us all if No. 22 Washington State locks up the North, though. The Buckeyes (9-1) have battled all the way back from their upset loss to Penn State, and with the Nittany Lions ranking eighth in this poll, Ohio State has the least damaging loss among the one-blemish teams. Wisconsin 8. Penn State 9. They were Nos. 2, 3 and 4 in last week’s CFP rankings.

Next up: The Wolfpack returns home this week to welcome in the Miami Hurricanes, with NC State needing one more win to achieve bowl eligibility.

No. 25 Troy is ranked for the first time in school history. Presumably, PSU would have been savaged for losing at IN as well. It’s the first time this season that the Vols have been ranked by the committee. Say the one-loss Buckeyes win out, beating MI in the process. The Trojans (8-1) won a matchup of unbeaten Sun Belt Conference teams on Saturday against Appalachian State and their only loss was by six points at Clemson. A last second field goal from Pitt’s Chris Blewitt handed the Tigers their first loss of the season.