FBS Rankings Following Conference Championship Games

December 8, 2024 by CollegeFootballPoll.com Staff

Oregon remains No.1 in the Congrove Computer Rankings at CollegeFootballPoll.com. That was to be expected as the Ducks certainly clinched the No. 1 seed in the 12-team College Football Playoff with a 45-37 win over Penn State in the B1G Championship game to remain as the only FBS team with a perfect record at 13-0.

But what happened to all the other teams, and how will the results effect the playoff pool and playoff committee seedings? The definitive answer will come from the committee itself on Sunday soon after ESPN convenes its coverage at Noon eastern time.

The computer has idle Notre Dame moving up to No. 2, but the Irish are not in a conference and, thus, can not secure a top 4 seed. The top 4 seeds go to the four highest-ranked conference champions, in order. And the last automatic seed goes to the highest-ranked Power 4 conference champion if they are not already in the top 4. The last AQ is likely to be a 12 seed.

Idle Ohio State checks in at No. 3 in the rankings, and No. 4 Texas was a 22-19 loser in overtime to Georgia which checks in at No. 5 and garners the 2-seed. It should be noted here that there is no way the committee will have Texas above Georgia after the Bulldogs handed the Longhorns both of their defeats, but it doesn't matter because preference is given to the conference champs and it wouldn't change either of their playoff seedings.

Idle Indiana is ranked 6th, and No. 7 Penn State lost to Oregon, so No. 8 Boise State gets the 3-seed.

SMU only falls from 6th to 9th after losing on a 56-yard walk-off field  to Clemson in the ACC title game so, according to the computer, the Mustangs would be safely in the playoff. But Mustang fans only need to remember how the humans on the committee treated Florida State last year to remain restless until the unveiling of their rankings.

Four more teams that were idle over the weekend remain at Nos. 10 through 13. In order, they are Tennessee, Miami (FLA), Ole Miss and Alabama.

American conference champion Army is 14th, but only one Group of Five champion automatically qualifies for ANY spot in the 12-team field.

Clemson is ranked 15th and becomes the 4th highest-ranked eligible conference champion. But many pundits seemed to feel that Big 12 champ Arizona State could take that 4 seed, or even a 3-seed, after easily knocking off Iowa State 45-19. The computer has the Sun Devils two spots behind the Tigers at No. 17, with Memphis in between at No. 16. That would give ASU the 5-seed, according to the computer. The question will be does Clemson or ASU get the 12 seed.

After the 5 champions are seeded, the rest of the field is the next 7 highest-ranked teams.

Complete Top 134

Projected Seeds, based on computer rankings

1. Oregon
2. Georgia
3. Boise State
4. Clemson
5. Notre Dame
6. Ohio State
7. Texas
8. Indiana
9. Penn State
10. SMU
11. Tennessee
12. Arizona State

Committee's Top 25, Before Championship Weekend

Congrove's Final Super 16 Ballot for December 8

1. Oregon
2. Notre Dame
3. Georgia
4. Texas
5. Ohio State
6. Indiana
7. Penn State
8. Arizona State
9. SMU
10. Boise State
11. Clemson
12. Tennessee
13. Ole Miss
14. Alabama
15. South Carolina
16. Army West Point

By his rankings, the playoff seeds would be as follows:
1. Oregon
2. Georgia
3. Arizona State
4. Boise State
5. Notre Dame
6. Texas
7. Ohio State
8. Indiana
9. Penn State
10. SMU
11. Tennessee
12. Clemson