Georgia is the new No. 1 team in the country after the Bulldogs blew out Ole Miss 42-7 on the road and former top-ranked Miami was knocked off by Notre Dame in Week 10.
Georgia had opened the initial College Football Playoff rankings at No. 2 behind Miami despite an October loss to Auburn that left the Bulldogs at 7-1 entering the week. With Miami’s loss, Georgia now sits alone at the top at 8-1.
Miami fell six spots to No. 7 after losing by one touchdown to Notre Dame, which was ranked No. 11 just a week ago. The Fighting Irish, now 8-1, jumped six spots to No. 5 on the strength of what the committee considers a signature road win over the top-ranked team in the country.
The rest of the top four is sure to spark arguments. Utah, at 9-0, sits at No. 2, while Alabama moved up two spots to No. 3 at 7-2 after a 31-13 win over LSU. UCLA, which shares Utah’s unbeaten 9-0 record, is ranked No. 4 — behind a two-loss Alabama team.
That gap, along with Tennessee’s placement at No. 8, is already stirring the familiar SEC-bias debate. Tennessee beat Kentucky, now ranked No. 11, in a big win, and both Tennessee and Alabama carry identical 7-2 records. Tennessee also already beat Alabama head-to-head this season, 26-10.
Committee Explains the Alabama and Tennessee Calls
CFP committee chair Hunter Yurachek, the athletic director at Arkansas, defended Alabama’s No. 3 ranking over one-loss, head-to-head winner Tennessee.
“They’re number one in record strength. Number one in their schedule strength,” Yurachek said. “They have four, what we call, quality wins, because we continue to call that the win against Mississippi State earlier in the year when they had Kamario Taylor on their team. They were 4-0. Alabama went there and won that game. So, Alabama, we believe, deserves to be the No. 3 team in the country.”
Asked why Tennessee wasn’t ranked higher, Yurachek pointed to the committee’s internal grouping system.
“Well, we’ll go back to what you just said about Miami and Notre Dame. Alabama was in that first pool — Tennessee was not in that first pool,” Yurachek said. “Tennessee’s got a couple of quality wins — their win they just had against Kentucky and the win they had against Alabama.”
Rest of the Field
Texas sits at No. 6, followed by Miami at No. 7 and Tennessee at No. 8. Indiana, idle on a bye week, dropped five spots to No. 9 at 8-1 as its earlier wins looked weaker in hindsight despite the reigning champs’ continued success. BYU, 7-2, is No. 10 after a near-upset of No. 2 Utah on the road.
Kentucky holds at No. 11, with Texas Tech at No. 12, and Wake Forest, Houston and Iowa rounding out the top 15.
Oregon leaped seven spots to No. 16 after a 41-28 win over Ohio State, which dropped eight spots to No. 20 after back-to-back losses left the Buckeyes at 6-3. Ole Miss fell nine spots to No. 19 following its blowout loss to Georgia.
Full Rankings
- No. 1: Georgia (8-1)
- No. 2: Utah (9-0)
- No. 3: Alabama (7-2)
- No. 4: UCLA (9-0)
- No. 5: Notre Dame (8-1)
- No. 6: Texas (7-2)
- No. 7: Miami (8-1)
- No. 8: Tennessee (7-2)
- No. 9: Indiana (8-1)
- No. 10: BYU (7-2)
- No. 11: Kentucky (7-2)
- No. 12: Texas Tech (8-1)
- No. 13: Wake Forest (8-1)
- No. 14: Houston (7-2)
- No. 15: Iowa (7-2)
- No. 16: Oregon (6-3)
- No. 17: South Carolina (6-3)
- No. 18: USC (7-2)
- No. 19: Ole Miss (6-3)
- No. 20: Ohio State (6-3)
- No. 21: LSU (6-3)
- No. 22: Missouri (6-3)
- No. 23: Arizona (7-2)
- No. 24: Boise State (8-1)
- No. 25: Oklahoma State (6-3)
