College Football Playoff rankings: Clemson, Bama, Ohio St., Notre Dame

The College Football Playoff Committee released their second playoff rankings of the season on Tuesday.

Author:
SI Wire
Publish date:
Nov 10, 2015

The Clemson Tigers are No. 1 in the College Football Playoff rankings for a second straight week after an ACC Atlantic-clinching win over No. 16 Florida State on Saturday. The 9–0 Tigers now face Syracuse, Wake Forest and South Carolina to close out the season, giving them a good chance to finish undefeated.

The Alabama Crimson Tide backed up last week’s No. 4 ranking with an impressive 30–16 victory against LSU last week, and took the Tigers’ No. 2 ranking as a result. Alabama’s strength of schedule is No. 1 in the country, but after playing Mississippi State this week, its schedule will get easier with Charleston Southern and Auburn.

Ohio State stayed at No. 3 after managing to handle Minnesota without much issue despite missing starting quarterback J.T. Barrett. The Buckeyes will get him back this week against Illinois, and he’ll start as long as he plays well enough in practice. Ohio State will need all hands on deck against Michigan State and Michigan in the following weeks.

Notre Dame is the new team in the top four of the CFP rankings, edging out No. 5 Iowa and No. 6 Baylor to replace LSU. The Irish looked good once again last week, picking up a 42–30 win over Pittsburgh, and meet Wake Forest and Boston College before their big season finale against Stanford.

Here are the full rankings:

1. Clemson

2. Alabama

3. Ohio State

4. Notre Dame

5. Iowa

6. Baylor

7. Stanford

8. Oklahoma State

9. LSU

10. Utah

11. Florida