College Football Playoff rankings: Miami out, Alabama in with last overall bid as ACC impact continues

Alabama moved into position to earn an at-large bid for the College Football Playoff, and Miami was eliminated from contention as the selection committee’s penultimate ranking narrowed the field Tuesday night.

Miami fell six spots to No. 12, behind No. 11 Alabama, which holds the final overall spot heading into championship weekend. Alabama is in the starting lineup for now, but has not secured a spot. Championship games in the ACC and perhaps even the Mountain West could still cost the Crimson Tide a place in the playoffs with the top 12 teams.

Selection committee chairman Warde Manuel said the committee will not re-rank the teams not playing this weekend and will leave out all teams behind Alabama, including No. 13 Mississippi and No. 14 South Carolina.

“Nothing will change for us if we evaluate them differently than we do now,” Manuel said on ESPN’s selection show.

Manuel added during a conference call with reporters that teams that don’t play will not be rewarded or penalized by the results of this weekend’s games. For example: A Clemson win can’t provide any additional boost to South Carolina, which beat the Tigers last week. On the other hand, if Georgia loses the SEC championship game, it will not be played against Alabama, which defeated the Bulldogs.

“We know who won games against teams participating in these championships,” Manuel said. “We have already taken that into account in the evaluation this week.”

Warde said Alabama is 3-1 against teams currently ranked and 6-1 against teams over .500, while Miami is 0-1 and 4-2 in those categories, respectively, giving the Crimson Tide an advantage.

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said the conference was “incredibly shocked and disappointed” by Miami’s ouster after the Hurricanes’ 42-38 defeat at No. 10 last weekend. 22 Syracuse had lost.

“Miami has more wins and fewer losses than the team directly in front of them and a dominant win over an SEC team (Florida) whose late-season momentum includes wins over No. 13 Ole Miss,” Phillips said.

He also pointed out that Miami lost a total of nine points on the road to Syracuse and Georgia Tech and that Georgia Tech had just played an eight-overtime game at No. 5 Georgia.

“Miami absolutely deserves better from the committee,” Phillips said.

Just last year, the ACC thought it had been burned by committee when undefeated Florida State was knocked out of the four-team CFP by Alabama.

Oregon remained No. 1 in the committee’s penultimate Top 25, followed by No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 Notre Dame and No. 5 Georgia after Ohio State secured a spot in the top five .

The Buckeyes fell four spots but remained ahead of No. 7 Tennessee, which is significant because it could determine which team gets a first-round playoff game between the Buckeyes (10-2) and the Volunteers (10-2 ).

No. 8 SMU, No. 9 Indiana and No. 10 Boise State all moved up one spot. The Hoosiers (11-1) appear safe. The Mustangs (11-1) still have to face No. 17 Clemson (9-3) in the ACC championship game on Saturday. The winner should secure a spot as one of the top five ranked conference champions. Clemson will likely exit with a loss.

SMU’s overall hopes seem less clear, although ACC commissioner Jim Phillips pointed that out to his Mustangs The athlete Earlier this week, he said the first-year conference member should be there no matter how things go in Charlotte against Clemson.

“We’re definitely excited to see SMU move up in the rankings…,” Phillips said Tuesday night.

The projected top four seeds from the latest rankings are now: Oregon, Texas, SMU and Boise State.

Oregon (12-0) and Penn State (11-1) meet Saturday in the Big Ten Championship with a first-round bye and perhaps the No. 1 overall seed on the line. Texas (11-1) and Georgia (10-2) face each other in the SEC championship game, a rematch of the Bulldogs’ regular-season win in Austin, with the winner receiving a bye.

The intrigue lies in the ACC.

Clemson would be a bid stealer and enter as conference champions. But whose offer would the Tigers accept? Alabama? Or would SMU fall behind the Crimson Tide in the final rankings and be pushed out, leaving the ACC with just one team in the field and the SEC with four?

No. 15 Arizona State (10-2) and No. 16 Iowa State (10-2) will play in the Big 12 championship game, with the winner guaranteed a spot among the five highest-ranked conference champions and possibly a first-place finish. Round bye contingent on the outcome of the Mountain West title game between Boise State (11-1) and No. 20 UNLV (10-2) and whether Clemson wins the ACC.

Miami coach Mario Cristobal was among many who publicly expressed support for their teams in recent days.

“I think the (SEC) bias is over.”

Mario Cristobal talks about how Miami’s resume compares to others in the CFP rankings 👀 pic.twitter.com/oAdp0LfbNw

– ACC Network (@accnetwork) December 3, 2024

Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin and South Carolina coach Shane Beamer also made their arguments, as did Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne.

Here’s a good look at the numbers/rankings for @AlabamaFTBL. Note that there is a lot of talk about 2v3 losing teams, but that is just one factor. If you look at that @CFBPlayoff Principles for his selection committee, the first bullet point on the list of… pic.twitter.com/EGrp7pVbaA

– Greg Byrne (@Greg_Byrne) December 3, 2024

Which three questions will be answered this weekend?

If UNLV upsets Boise State, could the Broncos, whose only loss to Oregon came on a last-second field goal, still secure an overall bid and turn UNLV into a bid stealer?

How far behind will the losers of the SEC and Big Ten championship games fall and could that impact who hosts first-round games? The bracket you see now may still have significant movement. A Penn State loss to Oregon could cause the Nittany Lions to fall behind Ohio State, which won in Happy Valley. A loss for Georgia would be the Bulldogs’ third, but their win against Tennessee could halt their fall in the final standings.

Could a Clemson win mean a bye for the Big 12 champion? It doesn’t look like either Iowa State or Arizona State can catch Boise State. A UNLV upset could pave the way for one of these teams to earn a bye, although it should be noted that the Rebels have two wins against Big 12 teams (Kansas, Houston). But if Clemson upsets SMU, is it possible that the Tigers would be the fifth-seeded champion, putting both the Big 12 and Mountain West champs in the top four?

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(Photo: Gregory Fisher / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)