Prior to the penultimate 2022 College Football Playoff rankings release on Tuesday, a lot of discussion centered around how different the top five teams vying for a CFP berth would look like because of Michigan’s dismantling of Ohio State over the weekend.
The new rankings kept Georgia (12-0) at No. 1. Michigan (12-0) moved up one spot to No. 2. TCU (12-0) also advanced one slot to No. 3. USC (11-1) busted into the top four, and Ohio State (11-1) dropped to No. 5. But right behind the Buckeyes sit Alabama (10-2) and Tennessee (10-2) at No. 6 and 7, respectively.
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The Crimson Tide’s and Volunteers’ placement in the rankings sparked online conversation because Tennessee defeated Alabama, 52-49, on Oct. 15. When the Vols secured that win, Tennessee became a favorite to land one of the four spots in the CFP. However, South Carolina crushed the Vols, 63-38, and Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker—who was a Heisman Trophy frontrunner—suffered a season-ending ACL injury on Nov. 19.
As for Alabama, beyond losing to the Vols, Nick Saban’s squad also suffered a one-point overtime loss to LSU on Nov. 5. The head-to-head factor in the equation would seem to favor Tennessee.
However, College Football Playoff committee chair Boo Corrigan said the committee made its decision to rank Alabama above Tennessee based on the Crimson Tide’s “full body of work.”
“When you look at the two losses by Alabama, including one on a last-second field goal to Tennessee, and then you’re measuring—somewhere in there you’ve got to measure the loss that Tennessee had to South Carolina, and as we went through that, that was part of the determination as to why to have Alabama ahead of Tennessee,” Corrigan said on a media teleconference.
Corrigan went so far as to say that the Vols’ loss to the Gamecocks “really weighed on the committee.”
On Saturday, the final three undefeated teams—Georgia, Michigan and TCU—will square off in their respective conference championship games. The outcomes of those games could play an integral part in shaking up the final CFP rankings, which will be released on Sunday.
