Ohio State, Indiana remain 1-2 in college football playoff format
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Ohio State stayed atop the College Football Playoff rankings for the second straight week Tuesday night, while Indiana remained at No. 2 despite barely squeaking out a victory last week while third-ranked Texas A&M coasted.
Alabama and Georgia rounded out the same top five as in last week's season-opening rankings.
Texas Tech jumped two spots to No. 6, moving one notch ahead of Mississippi, which dropped to 7 despite a romp over Citadel in a nonconference game.
The biggest shifts came lower in the rankings, where Miami moved up three spots to No. 15 and vaulted over Georgia Tech to claim the Atlantic Coast Conference's spot in the 12-team bracket. And South Florida earned the No. 24 ranking, which brings with it the 12th and final spot in the Week 2 projected bracket.
At No. 8 was Oregon, followed by Notre Dame and Texas.
No. 11 Oklahoma and No. 12 BYU would be the first two teams out in this week's bracket due to the automatic spots handed to the ACC (Miami) and the highest-ranked league leader out of the Group of 5 (South Florida).
The final bracket comes out Dec. 7, with the 12-team playoff beginning Dec. 19 and closing a month later with the title game.
Indiana needed last-second heroics to squeak past Penn State last weekend, while Texas A&M rolled on the road over Missouri. That, however, didn't change the 12-person selection committee's analysis of the Buckeyes, Hoosiers and Aggies, who are the only remaining undefeated teams in the rankings.
Committee chair Mack Rhoades said the Indiana-Texas A&M conversation was the second-longest the committee had, behind Texas Tech-Ole Miss.
"Certainly, discussion about those two games, but also discussion about body of work," Rhoades said of the Indiana and Texas A&M wins. "There was conversation about Missouri. Missouri is a really good team but not the team they've been," due to injuries at quarterback.
Miami moved up three spots after an expected 38-10 win over Syracuse, while idle Georgia Tech only moved up two spots. This looked like a correction of sorts for the Hurricanes, who have a win over Notre Dame and a blowout against South Florida on their resume.
"Obviously, the head-to-head with Notre Dame comes up," Rhoades said. "They're better defensively than they were at the beginning of the year. All those things played into it."
The Bulls went from unranked to No. 24, saving the playoff the embarrassment of having a completely unranked team among the 12 in the projected bracket for the second straight week.
With early wins over Boise State and Florida, South Florida looked like a good bet to earn that fifth conference-champion slot earlier in the season, and reclaimed the position after Memphis lost to Tulane last week.
"They've always been part of (the conversation)," Rhoades said of the Bulls. "South Florida is the most consistent of the Group of 5, to date."
Pitt moves up two in rankings
The Pitt Panther football team continued its climb in the national conversation this week, rising two spots to No. 22 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday.
The Panthers (7-2, 5-1 ACC) are winners of five straight games entering their highly anticipated matchup against No. 9 Notre Dame this Saturday at Acrisure Stadium.
Pitt has been among the nation's most explosive teams during its current streak, scoring 200 points over the last five games while ranking sixth in the ACC in total offense (426.8 yards per game), first in scoring offense (39.7), and second in passing offense (302.6).
Defensively, the Panthers continue to assert themselves as one of the country's most complete units, ranking third nationally in rushing defense (80.9 yards per game) and fifth in tackles for loss (7.8 per game).
Saturday's contest will mark Pitt's first of two final home games in 2025. It will also be the program's first College Football Playoff Top-25 matchup at Acrisure Stadium.