With the 31-17 win over then No. 4 ranked Mississippi State Saturday, Ole Miss has climbed up seven spots to No. 12 in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings which were released Tuesday.
Being ranked No. 12 puts the Rebels in great position to play in a New Years Eve or January bowl game, whether it be the Cotton Bowl, Peach Bowl, Outback Bowl and so on.
Mississippi State has moved out of the first four of the playoff and back to 10th in the rankings, knocking them out of the playoff race.
The top two teams remain the same, with Alabama staying at No. 1 and Oregon at No. 2.
The biggest surprise with the new rankings is TCU moving back into the first four of the playoff rankings at No. 3, jumping over unbeaten Florida State who moves back to No. 4. TCU has displayed an impressive resume over the season in Big 12 conference, with their latest victory coming against Texas on the road 48-10. TCU’s lone loss of the season was to Baylor, who is ranked No. 6.
TCU will host 2-9 Iowa State in their final game of the season and No. 6 Baylor will host No. 9 Kansas State Saturday. Baylor will need a convincing win in order to jump TCU in the rankings and leap into the first four.
Florida State got off to a slow start once again, but held off Florida in Will Muschamp’s final game as head coach of the Gators in a 24-19 win. The Seminoles have not lost a game since November 24th of 2012.
Ohio State comes in at No. 5 after defeating rival Michigan 42-28 in Columbus. The Buckeyes lost freshman quarter J.T. Barrett for the season with a fractured right ankle suffered early in the fourth quarter. The Buckeyes will look to make a leap in the rankings with a victory over No. 13 Wisconsin in the Big 10 championship game.
No. 7-10 are Arizona, Michigan State, Kansas State, and Mississippi State, respectively.
