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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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The latest College Football Playoff rankings dropped earlier this week, and there were a lot of changes. Georgia stole the top spot after their 42-7 rout of Ole Miss in Oxford, while Utah moved up to No. 2 overall as one of the last remaining undefeated teams at 9-0. Alabama climbed two spots to No. 3 overall after beating LSU 31-13 in Baton Rouge, while undefeated UCLA jumped four spots to No. 4 and Notre Dame moved up six spots to No. 5 overall after their massive win over then-unbeaten Miami.
The Hurricanes fell to No. 7 with their loss to the Irish. Indiana dropped five spots to No. 9 overall, despite back-to-back wins over Michigan and Minnesota, and Kentucky fell five spots to No. 11 overall after losing 34-6 at Tennessee. The Vols climbed up five spots to No. 8 overall with the win. Oregon moved all the way up to the No. 16 spot after beating Ohio State 41-28 in Columbus, a seven-point jump from last week's rankings, while the Buckeyes are now at No. 20, and LSU at No. 21.
On Saturday morning's "College GameDay," former coach and ESPN analyst Nick Saban reacted to the latest CFP rankings and had a blunt message for the remaining teams in the field.
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"You know, the bottom line is guys, I like all the BS you guys got about all this, but none of this really matters," Saban said. "We're starting the fourth quarter of the season, right? This is about the time of the year that I would give my speech that, 'Don't listen to what anybody on ESPN says about what we're going to do because it's all about how you finish the season.' And all of these teams have an opportunity. They're going to play the kind of games, the big games, that they're going to have an opportunity if they canplay with consistency and sustain a level of intensity to play their best football at this time of the year, in their fourth quarter of the season, they will have a chance to get into the playoffs. But where they're at right now doesn't really matter."
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The CFP rankings do matter at this stage in the sense that they give a good idea of how the CFP committee values teams and their wins and losses. But there's still time to turn it around, and we've seen what one result can do in the rankings. It felt like Oregon's season was over after their loss at Illinois a few weeks ago, their second loss in two weeks after falling 17-15 at home to UCLA. But after upsetting Ohio State on the road, they're suddenly on the bubble to make the playoffs and potentially play for the Big Ten Championship.
On the flip side, Ole Miss looked like a lock to make the postseason earlier in the year, but their path has narrowed considerably since, plummeting to No. 19 overall after losses to Texas and Georgia. The same can be said for Ohio State, LSU, and Missouri, who could all miss the playoffs due to their recent string of losses. But, as Saban said, we're at a pivotal point with three games remaining for each team, and a strong run to finish the year could shift the playoff picture dramatically.
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Saturday's college football slate is packed with games that could have massive implications. Miami (8-1) hosts Duke (7-2), with the Hurricanes needing to rebound after their loss to Notre Dame. Wake Forest (8-1) and SMU (7-2) will face off in Dallas, Texas, with both teams eyeing a spot in the ACC title game. Ohio State (6-3) hosts Northwestern (6-3), Georgia hosts Missouri (6-3), USC (7-2) travels to Indiana (8-1), Texas (7-2) goes to LSU (6-3), and Utah (9-0) plays Arizona (7-2) in Tucson.
Tennessee (7-2) will also go to College Station to face Texas A&M (4-5), Michigan (4-5) will travel to Eugene to play Oregon (6-3), while Texas Tech (8-1) and Oklahoma State (6-3) will battle it out later tonight in Stillwater.
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