Twenty-one ranked teams were in action in Week 14 and they went 13-4 against unranked opponents. In total, six top 25 teams lost last weekend, which meant the College Football Playoff rankings for Week 15 were bound to change.
And change they did. NCAA.com is here with complete analysis and takeaways from the latest CFP rankings.
First, here are the latest College Football Playoff rankings.
2020 College Football Playoff rankings for Week 15
|
RANK |
SCHOOL |
PREVIOUS |
RECORD |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | 1 | 9-0 |
| 2 | Notre Dame | 2 | 10-0 |
| 3 | Clemson | 3 | 9-1 |
| 4 | Ohio State | 4 | 5-0 |
| 5 | Texas A&M | 5 | 7-1 |
| 6 | Florida | 6 | 8-1 |
| 7 | Iowa State | 9 | 8-2 |
| 8 | Cincinnati | 7 | 8-0 |
| 9 | Georgia | 8 | 6-2 |
| 10 | Miami (FL) | 10 | 8-1 |
| 11 | Oklahoma | 11 | 7-2 |
| 12 | Indiana | 12 | 6-1 |
| 13 | Coastal Carolina | 18 | 10-0 |
| 14 | Northwestern | 14 | 5-1 |
| 15 | USC | 20 | 3-0 |
| 16 | Iowa | 19 | 5-2 |
| 17 | North Carolina | 17 | 7-3 |
| 18 | BYU | 13 | 9-1 |
| 19 | Louisiana | 25 | 9-1 |
| 20 | Texas | NR | 6-3 |
| 21 | Colorado | NR | 4-0 |
| 22 | Oklahoma State | 15 | 6-3 |
| 23 | NC State | NR | 8-3 |
| 24 | Tulsa | 24 | 6-1 |
| 25 | Missouri | NR | 5-3 |
The top four teams stay the same
The top six teams stayed in the same order, in fact: No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Clemson, No. 4 Ohio State, No. 5 Texas A&M and No. 6 Florida. Right now, that puts two ACC teams in the projected playoff picture, along with one from both from Big Ten and SEC, with two other SEC teams just outside the top four.
Iowa State approaches the top six
After a 42-6 win over West Virginia, Iowa State improved to 8-2 and the selection committee rewarded the Cyclones by moving them up two spots to No. 7. Another two-loss Big 12 team, Oklahoma, is ranked No. 11 and the Sooners provide Iowa State the potential for another quality win in the Big 12 Championship Game.
Coastal Carolina climbs, BYU falls after thriller
Arguably the highest-profile game of the week was between No. 13 BYU and No. 18 Coastal Carolina, which was a replacement matchup scheduled on short notice after Coastal Carolina's game against Liberty was canceled due to COVID-19 issues at Liberty. As a result, BYU traveled across the country as two 9-0 teams faced off with a potential path to a New Year's Six bowl game at stake.
Football is often described as a game of inches and Coastal Carolina's 22-17 win was decided by a matter of feet, if not inches. Zach Wilson's pass to Dax Milne on the last play of the game resulted in Milne getting swarmed and tackled at Coastal Carolina's 1-yard line as the Cougars came oh so close to an impressive road win.
Coastal Carolina climbed five spots to No. 13 and BYU dropped to five spots to No. 18 as the two schools switched spots.
Two Pac-12 teams from Week 14 fall
Last week, two of the Pac-12's three teams that were ranked lost: No. 22 Washington and No. 23 Oregon. Both the Huskies and Ducks dropped out of the new rankings.
However, USC improved to No. 15 and undefeated Colorado entered the rankings at No. 21.
These are the biggest games of Week 15
There's a top-25 clash in the ACC on Saturday between No. 10 Miami (FL) and No. 17 North Carolina at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC. In the SEC, No. 9 Georgia travels to No. 25 Missouri at 12 p.m. on the SEC Network.
And 10-0 Coastal Carolina, now ranked No. 13, will travel to Troy for a 3 p.m. ET kickoff on ESPN+.
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