Ohio State will go into championship weekend as the top team in the College Football Playoff selection committee’s rankings, followed by LSU, Clemson and Georgia.
Utah was fifth, Oklahoma sixth and Baylor seventh in the committee’s second-to-last top 25 released Tuesday.
Committee chairman Rob Mullens, the athletic director at Oregon, said the most vigorous debate among the 13-member panel this week was between the Utes and Sooners.
“We spent considerable time on it. More time than anywhere else on the board,” Mullen said.
The final rankings that set the pairings for the national semifinals come out Sunday after each FBS conference plays a championship game this weekend. The most pivotal games will be LSU-Georgia in the Southeastern Conference championship game; Oklahoma-Baylor in the Big 12 championship; and Utah-Oregon – 13th this week – for the Pac-12 title Friday night.
Wisconsin was eighth, followed by Florida and Penn State. Alabama was 12th, its lowest ranking in the six years the committee has been doing a weekly top 25 over the final third of the season.
Alabama’s drop after losing to Auburn, which was 11th, means the Crimson Tide will not only miss the playoff for the first time in its six-year history, but it won’t even play in a major bowl. The last time Alabama played in something other than a New Year’s Six or BCS bowl was after the 2010 season. The Tide beat Michigan State 49-7 in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando.
Among teams outside the Power Five, Memphis was highest ranked at 17th. Boise State is 19th and Cincinnati, which faces Memphis in the American Athletic Conference title game, was 20th. Appalachian State out of the Sun Belt is 21st.
RUTGERS: The university’s Board of Governors approved an eight-year, $32 million contract to bring back the former coach Greg Schiano to lead the program that has lost 21 straight Big Ten Conference games and won seven others over the last three seasons.
The agreement will give the coach a $4 million annual salary and $7.7 million annually to hire a staff, with the amount increasing 3 percent annually.
OHIO STATE: Defensive end Chase Young has been selected as the Big Ten defensive player of the year.
Copy the Story LinkComments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
