College Football Playoff Rankings: Ohio State, Georgia, Michigan and Florida State remain at the top

Written by Cameron Teague Robinson, Seth Emerson, Austin Meek, and Nicole Auerbach

The second College Football Playoff seeding for the 2023 season was revealed Tuesday night. Here’s what you need to know:

The Buckeyes retain first place

Ohio State retained the top spot in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings. After their first-ranked debut, the Buckeyes went on the road and beat Rutgers. While it wasn’t a resume-defining win, it was enough for the playoff committee to keep them in first place despite Georgia’s win over No. 14 Missouri on Saturday.

In the grand scheme of things, this doesn’t change much for Ohio State. They host Michigan State and Minnesota in the next two weeks and the goal is to avoid an upset before going to Ann Arbor to play Michigan on November 25. If the Buckeyes do that, they will control their College Football Playoff destiny, once again. — Cameron Teague Robinson, Ohio State football writer

How does Georgia compare to Ohio?

There were some who thought the committee could use the win over Missouri — Georgia’s first win over a now-ranked team — as an excuse to move the Bulldogs up, but it’s still just one ranked win versus Ohio State’s two. Look lower in the rankings: No. 9 Ole Miss is Georgia’s next opponent, No. 13 Tennessee next. (After the Volunteers played Missouri.)

So, if the Bulldogs win the regular season, they can either make it to No. 1 or become a solid No. 2 and make the SEC Tournament. And even if Georgia loses one of the next two — which is very likely — its resume will look strong enough that a win in the SEC Tournament would be enough to get in. Would it be interesting if the Bulldogs were 12-0 but lost the SEC Championship? Yes, but it depends on what happens elsewhere in the country.

Bottom line, Georgia’s schedule is slowly ceasing to be an albatross. — Seth Emerson, Georgia football writer

The importance of Week 11 for Michigan

Unless you’re talking about sign stealing, there’s not much to discuss with Michigan. The Wolverines beat Purdue 41-13 to improve to 9-0 and remain third in the rankings. Next week will be more interesting. If the Wolverines beat Penn State, they could have a chance to move into first or second place.

If they lose, their chances of returning to the top four will depend on a win over Ohio State at the end of the year and hoping for help from other teams. This week is definitely a crossroads for Michigan’s season. —Austin Meek, Michigan football writer

Committee contradictions

The top eight teams from last week won, and nothing significant changed in this week’s rankings. The biggest question on Tuesday was whether or not Georgia could leapfrog Ohio State for first place, after the Bulldogs earned a top-15 win over Missouri. But it appears the selection committee will wait for further resume boosting before moving the Dawgs up.

It’s a little disappointing to see the committee rely on resume to justify Ohio State’s No. 1 ranking, but lean more toward the eye test of Georgia and Michigan, keeping them above Florida and Washington State. Why are the Huskies, who have their best win ever (No. 6 Oregon), left out of the top four? It is inconsistent reasoning by this committee. — Nicole Auerbach, senior college football writer

Required reading

(Photo: Kirby Lee/USA Today)