The Southeastern Conference’s losses helped other teams in the College Football Playoff rankings, with SMU moving into the top 12 and Indiana staying in the top 10, even after a heavy loss of its own.
In the 12-team bracket released Tuesday, Oregon remained No. 1 for the fourth week in a row. Alabama and Mississippi, both from the SEC, were left out of the top 12 after each suffered their third loss of the season.
This helped SMU rise four spots to No. 9, joining No. 6 Miami in the 12-team bracket. They might meet in the ACC championship game in two weeks. Clemson, ranked 12th, is also in the mix.
“We’ve been in that position where, so far, our resume hadn’t been good enough, so we needed some help,” said SMU coach Rhett Lashlee just before the rankings came out.
All attention was on Indiana and how much the committee would lower their ranking after their first loss of the season, a 38-15 defeat to No. 2 Ohio State. Indiana coach Curt Cignetti disagreed with the idea that the Hoosiers weren’t playoff-worthy. The committee dropped Indiana only five spots.
“We were impressed with some of the things Indiana did,” said Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, who chairs the selection committee. “They dropped five but we still felt their body of work was strong enough to remain in the top 10.”
The committee was not as kind to the Big 12. Losses by BYU and Colorado moved Arizona State, which beat BYU, into the bracket. Arizona State is ranked 16th, taking the 12th and final spot in the bracket as the fifth-best projected conference champion, making the Big 12 seem like a one-bid league.
Boise State, ranked 11th, got the fourth seed as the fourth-best projected conference champion from the Mountain West.
Texas, leading the SEC, is ranked third.
Alabama fell six spots to No. 13, and Ole Miss dropped five spots to No. 14. Neither team is in the top 12 anymore, but they are not completely out of playoff consideration. The committee will decide in the next two weeks if a three-loss team can make the playoff.
“The appetite is there to rank the teams as we see them,” Manuel said, noting that in the 10-year history of the CFP, 22 three-loss teams have been placed in the top 12.
Before this year, only the top four seeds mattered.
Other rankings include No. 4 Penn State, No. 5 Notre Dame, No. 7 Georgia, and No. 8 Tennessee.
Two more rankings will be released: one next week and the final one on Dec. 8, which will decide the matchups for the playoffs starting on Dec. 20. The national championship game is set for Jan. 20 in Atlanta.
