The fourth edition of the College Football Playoff Rankings was released Tuesday night with a bit of a shakeup coming to the top four. While the top 10 teams in last week's rankings all won, Washington swapped places with Florida State for No. 4 as Georgia, Ohio State and Michigan held their top three positions in the playoff field.
The Huskies, fresh off a win over Oregon State, now have four wins against CFP Selection Committee-ranked teams, the most of any program in the top 25. By comparison, the Seminoles only have one such win, which came in Week 1 against LSU in a neutral-site game. Washington will have a chance to earn a fifth win when it rematches with Oregon or plays Arizona in the Pac-12 Championship Game.
The committee did not take the season-ending injury suffered by FSU quarterback Jordan Travis into account as part of this position swap. Ultimately, they will let the results speak for themselves. The 'Noles will play at rival Florida before facing a top-10 Louisville team in the ACC Championship Game to close the season.
No. 1 Georgia has three ranked wins over Missouri, Ole Miss and Tennessee as it seeks a historic third straight CFP National Championship. No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Michigan meet in The Game on Saturday with a chance to help solidify a playoff spot the winner can clinch in the Big Ten Championship Game.
Unlike 2021, when Cincinnati opened at No. 6 in the CFP Rankings and eventually became the first Group of Five team to reach the playoff, the highest-ranked Group of Five program Tuesday is Tulane at No. 23 with Liberty the only other such team ranked at No. 25. That will not create a scenario in which the Green Wave or Flames can advance to the playoff, but in an expanded 12-team field set to be introduced in 2024, Tulane would be in pole position to earn a bid as the highest-ranked potential Group of Five champion.
Let's take a look at the entire CFP Rankings top 25. Check out analysis by bowls expert Jerry Palm below.
College Football Playoff Rankings, Nov. 21
- Georgia (11-0)
- Ohio State (11-0)
- Michigan (11-0)
- Washington (11-0)
- Florida State (11-0)
- Oregon (10-1)
- Texas (10-1)
- Alabama (10-1)
- Missouri (9-2)
- Louisville (10-1)
- Penn State (9-2)
- Ole Miss (9-2)
- Oklahoma (9-2)
- LSU (8-3)
- Arizona (8-3)
- Oregon State (8-3)
- Iowa (9-2)
- Notre Dame (8-3)
- Kansas State (8-3)
- Oklahoma State (8-3)
- Tennessee (7-4)
- NC State (8-3)
- Tulane (10-1)
- Clemson (7-4)
- Liberty (11-0)
Analysis by bowl expert Jerry Palm
Washington finally jumping Florida State for the No. 4 spot would matter more if we could finish the season with five undefeated teams atop the CFP Rankings, but with the Big Ten leaders playing each other on Saturday, we will be down to four -- at most -- and the battle between the Huskies and 'Noles will be for seed should both win out.
As mentioned above, this move was not about the loss of Travis. All the committee knows about Florida State with Tate Rodemaker at the helm is that it scored 58 unanswered points in a 58-13 win over North Alabama. The committee does not need to guess how the 'Noles will play without Travis as they will see two full games before the season is out.
Rather, Washington finally made the jump because its stronger wins finally overcame the style points Florida State was putting up.
There are now six teams that control their own destiny for a place in the CFP, the five undefeateds atop the rankings and No. 6 Oregon. The Ducks need two teams ahead of them to lose, but one of the Big Ten teams will fall this week, and they can take care of the Huskies themselves. There are scenarios that work for Texas, Alabama and maybe even Louisville, but each of those teams need help.
The Group of Five race got more interesting this week with the inclusion of Liberty at No. 25. The Flames are just two spots behind the Green Wave, so another loss by Tulane could open the door for Liberty to play in a New Year's Six bowl.
