The Crimson Tide is now fifth among SEC schools in the rankings after the Sooners moved up to No. 8 from No. 11. Texas A&M remained at No. 3 behind Ohio State and Indiana and Georgia moved up to No. 4 after beating Texas.
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Texas Tech is ranked No. 5 ahead of Ole Miss and Oregon.
Alabama is currently the last overall team in the field with the top-ranked teams from the ACC and American conferences outside the top 10. Miami moved up to 12th from 14th and is the ACC’s top team in the standings after Week 12. But the Hurricanes’ path to the ACC title game needs a lot to happen.
Both No. 16 Georgia Tech and No. 19 Virginia each have one ACC game remaining. If they both win (Georgia Tech plays Pitt on Saturday and Virginia plays Virginia Tech in the final week of the season), they will meet for the ACC title. Miami, which lost to SMU, is also one game behind the Mustangs in the ACC standings.
The Hurricanes will likely need to take the field as free agents. They play at Virginia Tech in Week 13 and at Pitt in Week 14.
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Tulane is the top team in the American Conference at No. 24. The Green Wave is among four teams with one conference loss above the American.
Who looks good to enter the field?
We can probably include the top three teams in the standings even if they lose once in the regular season and in their conference title games.
Georgia also looks great with its SEC schedule now wrapped up. The Bulldogs could be in danger if they lose to Georgia Tech in their season finale and Alabama also finishes 10-2.
Ole Miss only has one game left against Mississippi State. The Rebels could fall out of the top 10 with a loss (just look at Alabama), but they will be heavy favorites on Black Friday.
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Oregon hosts No. 15 USC on Saturday and will improve its playoff chances with a win. However, a USC win will likely eliminate Oregon from the playoff and could put the Trojans in contention.
Oklahoma has home games remaining against No. 22 Missouri and LSU. The Sooners are favored by more than one TD over the Columbia Tigers on Saturday. Notre Dame has games against Syracuse and Stanford, the bottom feeders of the ACC. The Irish have the most manageable schedule of all the teams with two losses in contention.
If Alabama finishes 10-2, the Tide will be in the SEC title game. Alabama earns a three-way tie with Georgia and Ole Miss if they are all tied for second place at 7-1 in the conference. The Tide is also in the conference title game if Texas beats Texas A&M and there is a four-way tie atop the SEC.
Where things could get complicated for the committee is if Alabama reaches the SEC title game and loses to Texas A&M. How much will the Tide be penalized for the loss? It probably depends on how unbalanced it is, but if Alabama loses a close game to an undefeated Texas A&M team, the committee might be tempted to put a three-loss Alabama team on the field after having played a 13th game.
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1. Ohio State (10-0)
2.Indiana (11-0)
3. Texas A&M (10-0)
4. Georgia (9-1)
5. Texas Tech (10-1)
6. Old Miss (10-1)
7. Oregon (9-1)
8.Oklahoma (8-2)
9. Notre Dame (8-2)
10.Alabama (8-2)
11. Brigham Young University (9-1)
12.Utah (8-2)
13.Miami (8-2)
14. Vanderbilt (8-2)
15. USC (8-2)
16. Georgia Tech (9-1)
17. Texas (7-3)
18. Michigan (8-2)
19. Virginia (9-2)
20.Tennessee (7-3)
21. Illinois (7-3)
22. Missouri (7-3)
23. Houston (8-2)
24. Tulane (8-2)
25. Arizona State (7-3)