With conference championship weekend in the rearview, the College Football Playoff picture is more uncertain than it was after this past week’s penultimate rankings.
No. 3 TCU (12–1) lost to No. 10 Kansas State 31–28 in overtime in Saturday’s Big 12 championship game for its first defeat of the season. It was the first Big 12 title in a decade for the Wildcats (10–3).
Leading into conference championship weekend, these were the top 10 teams in the CFP rankings:
1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. TCU
4. USC
5. Ohio State
6. Alabama
7. Tennessee
8. Penn State
9. Clemson
10. Kansas State
FORDE: Sorry Saban, but Alabama Doesn’t Belong in Playoff
With TCU’s loss, combined with Utah’s convincing upset of USC in Friday’s Pac-12 conference championship, Sports Illustrated’s college football reporting team of Ross Dellenger, Pat Forde and Richard Johnson believe there are a few scenarios that will be considered:
- TCU stays in the Playoff at No. 3 or 4. Ohio State climbs into the top four, while USC drops out.
- TCU drops out of the top four, Ohio State moves to No. 3 and there is a healthy debate for the committee between Alabama and Tennessee.
The first scenario is the one largely expected to come to fruition on Sunday, despite Nick Saban’s lobbying for the Crimson Tide.
Saturday’s remaining games went chalk—Georgia did its part in beating LSU in the SEC title game, while Michigan took care of Purdue in the Big Ten championship. The undefeated Bulldogs and Wolverines are in line to be the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively, in the Playoff bracket.
