College football playoff rankings: Michigan-Ohio State should shake up things in Week 13

It wasn't without some nails bitten down to the quick, some aneurysm-inducing play calling, and some luck, but the top 4 remains the same this week in the College Football Playoff rankings as we head into rivalry week. Georgia and TCU control their own destinies now, but Michigan and Ohio State face off this weekend in a highly-anticipated top-three matchup that may well determine the fates of several other teams.

Two-loss LSU floats at No. 5, awaiting their chance to swoop in at a sign of weakness. But does the Committee put two-loss LSU in over one-loss Ohio State or Michigan? Recency bias can play a role in these polls, but the Tigers do have that coveted win over Alabama that almost does the job of erasing one loss, and a two-loss Tigers team at season's end would also mean they had a win over Georgia.

USC sits at No. 6, also poised to snap at the scent of a TCU loss, an OSU-UM blowout, or an LSU loss. A Notre Dame rivalry game and a Pac-12 Championship lie ahead for them, and if either of those end poorly, they're out of contention. That tosses No. 7 Alabama and No. 8 Clemson back in the mix, though without an SEC Championship, Alabama's chances of making the final four are lower than usual.

Clemson faces South Carolina and North Carolina in the coming weeks, and two dominant wins would certainly make a convincing case for the committee. No team lower than No. 7 at this point in the season has ever made a CFP, but records were made for breaking.

Oregon and Tennessee round out the top 10 this week. Vols quarterback Hendon Hooker tore his ACL in a brutal loss to South Carolina, dropping UT out of CFP contention entirely.

  
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