Georgia now sits at the top of the College Football Playoff rankings after a wild Tuesday night release. The Bulldogs climbed to the No. 1 spot while Notre Dame jumped six places to land at No. 5. This new order leaves Miami out in the cold after they dropped six spots despite a loss by just one score. The selection committee made bold moves that left fans scratching their heads and teams scrambling to fix their resumes.
Why the Top Spot Changed
Georgia’s blowout win over Mississippi on Nov. 7 cleared the path for the Bulldogs to claim the number one rank. The committee saw enough to push them ahead of Utah and Alabama in a tight field at the top. During a call with reporters, Hunter Yurachek, chair of the 13-person selection committee, addressed the shift. Miami’s fall was severe for a team that lost on the road without their star player Malachi Toney. The Hurricanes slipped from the top spot to No. 7 while Notre Dame leaped over them thanks to a win over the Canes. Yurachek explained the logic behind the drop in a statement to the New York Post, “Then some things that happened around Miami in the rankings, we talked about that. Georgia had their big win at Ole Miss. Utah, their win over BYU. Alabama won at LSU, Texas at Missouri, UCLA at Minnesota. You had that combination of Miami losing as the No. 1 team, then some five teams behind them having some really signature wins. The committee thought that moving those teams ahead of Miami was the right thing to do in this ranking.”
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The Indiana and UCLA Drama
Indiana took a hard hit by dropping five spots to No. 9 even though they did not play last weekend. The Hoosiers sat out during a bye week while several teams they had beaten lost their own games. Yurachek blamed the timing of their rest for the slide. He noted that Indiana was “probably a victim of having a bye week at the wrong time.” This situation hurt their strength of schedule as other teams improved while they waited.
UCLA rose four spots to No. 4 after a two-touchdown win over Minnesota on the road. The Bruins are now 9-0 and look like a top-four team in the eyes of the committee. Yurachek said the win made the Bruins “look like the number-four team in the country.” Their defense has been steady all season while their offense found a new spark with backup quarterback Ty Dieffenbach. Dieffenbach threw 75-yard touchdown passes on back-to-back plays to seal the victory.
The committee noted that UCLA and Utah are the only two unbeaten teams left in major college football. Yurachek highlighted how rare this is this late in the season. “This is one of the earliest dates there’s only been two undefeated teams remaining,” Yurachek said. The rest of the top 12 includes Texas, Tennessee, BYU, Kentucky, and Texas Tech, with the Red Raiders set to be the first team left out.
Before the bracket is finalized on Dec. 6, three more Tuesday-night rankings shows will air.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
