Rivalry weekend in college football already produced one upset that will shake up the College Football Playoff rankings.
The third-ranked Texas A&M Aggies fell to the Texas Longhorns, a defeat that cost A&M a shot at playing in the SEC Championship Game.
The Alabama Crimson Tide can confirm their spot alongside the Georgia Bulldogs in Atlanta next week if they beat the Auburn Tigers on Saturday night.
A&M should still land in the top eight and host a first-round game, but Friday’s loss likely cost it a first-round bye.
That’s good news for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who started the week at No. 5. The favorite to win the Big 12 could easily finish in the top four after A&M’s defeat.
CFB Playoff Bracket Projection
No. 12 Tulane vs. No. 5 Oregon
No. 11 Virginia vs. No. 6 Ole Miss
No. 10 Alabama vs. No. 7 Texas A&M
No. 9 Notre Dame vs. No. 8 Oklahoma
Texas A&M didn’t look great in the second half of its loss against Texas. That should force the Aggies down a few spots in Tuesday’s CFB Playoff rankings.
Mike Elko’s team should still host a first-round game, but now it has one extra game to play to reach the playoff final.
Texas Tech is favored to beat the West Virginia Mountaineers on Saturday and then the BYU Cougars in the Big 12 Championship Game.
Two more wins from the Red Raiders should place them in the top four since the teams directly beneath them in the rankings likely won’t play next weekend.
The Oregon Ducks still have a shot to make the Big Ten Championship Game, but they need the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes to lose to the Michigan Wolverines for that to be a possibility.
Oregon will lock itself into a home playoff game, at minimum, if it beats the Washington Huskies on the road on Saturday.
Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss Rebels already achieved that with its Friday win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
The SEC Championship will likely pit Alabama against Georgia. That would spark the conversation about what to do with Alabama if it loses in Atlanta.
Kalen DeBoer’s team owns a 9-2 record with a bad opening-week loss to the Florida State Seminoles and another defeat to a likely playoff team in the Oklahoma Sooners.
Alabama did beat Georgia and three other Top 25 teams, but a loss in Atlanta would give it three defeats.
The committee would then have to determine the significance of playing in a conference championship game. Alabama could remain in the top 10 with a loss as a reward for making it to that stage of the season.
The more realistic scenario is that Alabama drops out of the top 10, and if BYU loses to Texas Tech, that opens the door for the Miami Hurricanes.
Miami’s head-to-head win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish hasn’t mattered in the rankings yet, but if the two teams are directly next to each other in the final rankings, it could cause a flip between the two teams at Nos. 9 and 10.
Miami needs a win on Saturday over the Pittsburgh Panthers and some help just to get to the ACC Championship Game, so right now its best chance to get in the playoff is through the final at-large position.
