We have finally entered the month of November, which means every win in college football is vital moving forward. If you’re not in the AP Poll rankings at this point, you’re probably realistically out
of the playoff picture.
The first College Football Playoff rankings come out on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. With Saturday’s slate showcasing multiple ranked matchups once again, there were more opportunities to show AP voters and the committee that each respective program deserves an opportunity to compete for the National Championship.
The Michigan Wolverines survived a Halloween weekend scare against the Purdue Boilermakers. The win was not pretty, but the strength of the defense and Jordan Marshall’s breakout game gave voters enough confidence to keep Michigan at No. 21 heading into its second bye week of the year.
The highly-anticipated matchup between No. 1 Ohio State and Penn State was less of a thriller, as the Buckeyes put behind some first-half woes to open the floodgates in the second half, winning by a final score of 38-14. Right behind them in the AP Poll is No. 2 Indiana, which continued to dominate every Big Ten team by blowing out Maryland, 55-10. Meanwhile, Oregon stayed at No. 6 following a bye week, USC now sits at No. 20 following a win at Nebraska, and Washington stayed at No. 24 despite being on a bye.
Outside the Big Ten, the competition created more chaos across college football. No. 5 Georgia survived a scary rivalry game against Florida, 24-20, to stay alive in the SEC Championship race. No. 7 Ole Miss took over in the fourth quarter to pull away from LaNorris Sellers and South Carolina. No. 10 Notre Dame continued to quietly move up the rankings after a double-digit win at Boston College. And No. 13 Texas got its first statement win of the season by taking down Vanderbilt.
Here is how the final AP Poll looks just two days before the unveiling of the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season.
- Ohio State
- Indiana
- Texas A&M
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Oregon
- Ole Miss
- BYU
- Texas Tech
- Notre Dame
- Oklahoma
- Virginia
- Texas
- Louisville
- Vanderbilt
- Georgia Tech
- Utah
- Miami
- Missouri
- USC
- Michigan
- Memphis
- Tennessee
- Washington
- Cincinnati
Other teams that received votes: Iowa 71, James Madison 53, Pittsburgh 35, San Diego State 30, North Texas 27, South Florida 23, SMU 7, Houston 6, Illinois 4, LSU 4, Arizona State 4.
