College Football Playoffs: Clemson Still Number One, Notre Dame Moves In

The second set of College Football Playoffs rankings are in, and Clemson is number one once again. Deshaun Watson and the Tigers beat ranked Florida State and their back-up quarterback 23-13 last week.

At number two, Alabama moves up from the 4th ranking after beating LSU, who takes a big fall after being ranked in that second spot. The defending National Champions Ohio State Buckeyes are at number three for a second consecutive week after beating Rutgers.

In the final spot, the Notre Dame sneak into the playoff picture after falling out at five last week in the original voting. Their quarterback Deshone Kizer beat unranked Pitt by twelve points last Saturday.

At number five and six are the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Baylor Bears. The undefeated Iowa Hawkeyes make a big jump into the playoff picture after being ranked ninth and Committee Chairman Jeff Long noted their strength on both sides of the ball, despite not being “flashy.”

Here’s the rest of the top ten.

Here’s the entire of the rankings along with that programs ranking from the first poll last week:

1. Clemson (1)
2. Alabama (4)
3. Ohio State (3)
4. Notre Dame (5)
5. Iowa (9)
6. Baylor (6)
7. Stanford (11)
8. Oklahoma State (14)
9. LSU (2)
10. Utah (12)
11. Florida (10)
12. Oklahoma (15)
13. Michigan State (7)
14. Michigan (17)
15. TCU (8)
16. Florida State (16)
17. Mississippi State (20)
18. Northwestern (21)
19. UCLA (23)
20. Navy (UR)
21. Memphis (13)
22. Temple (22)
23. North Carolina (UR)
24. Houston (25th)
25. Wisconsin (UR)

There are a couple of teams I notice missing after being ranked last week. Texas A&M, Toledo and Ole Miss did not make the poll this time around, but there’s still a lot of games to play. Teams such as Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Navy are the new faces on this years top 25 rankings.

Here are the NFL Mocks predictions entering into the night. The poll will undergo several facelifts as we head towards the final poll at the end of the season.