College Football Playoff rankings: How to watch Tuesday night’s Rivalry Week announcement

Well, friends, this past Saturday of college football was certainly an interesting one. Practically no one who had a single digit next to its name had it easy on the gridiron, even though there were very few upsets to be had on “Statement Saturday”; perhaps the statement was that there are no great teams in CFB this season, and instead, just the top four good teams will end up battling it out in the College Football Playoff.

So, even though all four of the CFP’s top teams were in dogfights to remain unbeaten, they did all survive, so there is likely to not be much change at the top of this week’s rankings, but that doesn’t mean as Ohio State fans that we shouldn’t be interested in what the committee has to say, because depending on how things go this Saturday, I think there is a significant chance that both the winner and the loser of The Game will have a shot at playoff berths.

For the sake of argument, let’s assume that Georgia, TCU, and the winner of The Game (hopefully the Buckeyes) win out — although, I think Kansas State will give the Horned Frogs all they can ask for and more in the Big 12 Title Game). That means that there would be only one spot remaining in the field of four. So who would it go to?

No. 5 Tennessee lost this past weekend to South Carolina, so they are out, and assuming that Georgia takes care of No. 6 LSU in the SEC Championship Game, that will eliminate the Bayou Bengals from consideration as well.

Then we get to No. 7 USC who still has to play No. 18 Notre Dame and (most likely) No. 12 Oregon in the Pac-12 Title Game. If the Trojans win out, they very deservingly would be in contention for that final berth. They certainly have a difficult road ahead of them, but they would be a one-loss conference champ with three quality wins in a row to end the season.

No. 8 Alabama has two losses and can’t get in, which brings us to No. 9 Clemson who has to play the same Gamecocks team that embarrassed Tennessee last weekend and then No. 13 North Carolina in the ACC Championship Game. Even assuming those wins, I don’t see Dabo’s team jumping USC or TTUN and OSU loser (unless it is a blowout defeat).

So the real teams still vying for the playoff are Georgia, Ohio State, TTUN, TCU, USC, Clemson, and I suppose LSU if they beat UGA. So, where the committee places the Trojans and both sets of Tigers should give us a lot of information about what to expect over the next few weeks from a seeding perspective.

Of course, it would make things a lot less stressful for Buckeye Nation if Ryan Day’s team just went out and won this weekend, so, Coach Day, since I know you are a regular reader of LGHL, if you could just make sure that happens, we would greatly appreciate it.

When will the CFP rankings be revealed and how can I watch?

Game Date/Time: Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN

DraftKings Sportsbook national title odds:

Georgia: -140
Ohio State: +230
Michigan: +1000
TCU: +1800

Matt’s Top 4 Prediction:

No. 1: Georgia
No. 2: Ohio State
No. 3: Michigan
No. 4: TCU

Join the conversation

Below is your College Football Rankings thread. Be respectful, be kind and — as always — keep it classy, BuckeyeNation. If you like GIFs, lay ‘em on us. In all, be good fans, cheer for your teams, be cool to each other (even if somebody else isn’t) and everyone wins. Let’s finish the season strong!

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.