Miami in trouble as Alabama climbs in the latest College Football Playoff rankings

Miami’s playoff hopes took a near-final nosedive while Alabama got a boost Tuesday night in the final rankings before the College Football Playoff’s 12 teams are determined next weekend.

The Hurricanes (10-2) moved up six spots to No. 12 – the first team to drop out of the scheduled group after their second loss of the season. They are one spot behind the Crimson Tide (9-3), which won last week and moved up two spots to No. 11, where they are projected to be the last and fourth team in the Southeastern Conference.

To make matters worse for the Canes, selection committee chairman and Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said there was no way for them to overtake Alabama since neither team is playing next weekend. The chances of them advancing due to lopsided results in this weekend’s conference title games are virtually nil.

The Miami-Alabama sorting was the strongest indication yet that the selection committee is looking not just at wins and losses, but also at strength of schedule and other factors that appear to give the SEC an edge.

“Obviously both teams are very important to us,” Manuel said. “It came down to Alabama being 3-1 against current top-25 teams and Miami being 0-1.”

Oregon remained No. 1 for the fifth straight week and will advance to Saturday’s Big Ten title game as the only undefeated team in major college football.

The pairings for the first 12-team college football playoffs will be determined Sunday, the day after the conference title games. Playoff games begin Dec. 20, with the title game scheduled for Jan. 20 in Atlanta.

Ohio State moved down four spots to No. 6 after its loss to Michigan.

This moved Texas up one spot to No. 2, Penn State to No. 3, Notre Dame to No. 4 and Georgia to No. 5.

The selection committee effectively designated the Big 12 as a one-bid team, moving Arizona State and Iowa State up just one spot each to 15th and 16th.

The top five conference champions are guaranteed commitments, meaning the winner of the Big 12 title game will be in even if they don’t finish in the top 12 – another factor in Miami’s likely fall.

SMU, riding a nine-game winning streak, has moved up one notch to No. 8 and is the top-ranked team in the Atlantic Coast Conference but is still potentially vulnerable if it loses the title game to No. 17 Clemson.

But the crux of this week’s drama comes from – where else? – the SEC.

Alabama is just two weeks removed from a terrible 24-3 loss at Oklahoma. The Tide still received better treatment than Miami, which has two losses by less than a touchdown, both of which, Manuel pointed out, came in the last three weeks.

He also said Alabama’s 6-1 record against winning teams and Miami’s 4-2 record played a role.

Mississippi also finished 13th in the SEC and South Carolina 14th – an answer to the question of how deep into the SEC pool the committee was willing to go. Neither team has another chance to build his resume.

Other rankings: No. 7 Tennessee, No. 9 Indiana and No. 10 Boise State. The planned group includes four teams each from the Big Ten and SEC and one each from the ACC, Mountain West and Big 12 as well as the independent Notre Dame.

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