College Football Playoff rankings projections for Tuesday, November 23rd selection show

It’s been another wild weekend in college football (aren’t they all wild? Isn’t that why we’re here?), so how will the College Football Playoff Selection Committee react to Oregon getting housed, Michigan State being lambasted by Ohio State and Cincinnati putting on a show against SMU.

The heavyweights Georgia and Alabama took care of business, while Notre Dame re-emerged as a playoff contender with a 55-0 win over Georgia Tech. How will the CFP rankings play out on Tuesday, November 23? Our DKNation panel predicts the playoff field and the first two teams on the outside after Week 12.

Collin Sherwin, DK Nation

1. Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Ohio State
4. Cincinnati
5. Michigan
6. Notre Dame

I think Cincinnati has finally done it, and tied Gary Barta to the bed during his worst nightmare. There is simply no way The Committee can leave Cincinnati out of the top four this week, though they will try like hell to do so by December 5th.

You can’t hold another weak Cincinnati performance against them, because they whipped an Also Receiving Votes SMU 41-0 before garbage time. Oregon got leveled, which makes Miami fans overjoyed thinking they can bring Mario Cristobal home, but devastates a committee that just wants to protect the fiefdom. And despite Michigan’s 59-18 savaging of Maryland, it won’t be enough to leap the Bearcats. For now.

And the other problem The Committee will be doing yoga to stretch enough in justification is the No. 6 team is the one Cincinnati beat by two scores on the road, making posting them in front of UC even more difficult. But then again the jury showed they don’t really care about head-to-head too much by putting Michigan ahead of Michigan State the last two weeks.

So yes, Cincinnati finally cracks the Top Four. But I still think they get summarily moved out somehow by December 5th, and a “close” loss by Ohio State at Michigan might be enough to do it.

Chinmay Vaidya, DK Nation

1. Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Ohio State
4. Michigan
5. Cincinnati
6. Oklahoma State

If we’re going to operate under the assumption the committee will not let a Group of 5 team in the playoff no matter what, it doesn’t make much sense for it to leave Cincinnati at No. 5. One of Michigan and Ohio State will lose “The Game”, which basically removes that team from the playoff picture. The committee has shot down the head-to-head argument when it came to Michigan and Michigan State, so there’s a chance it could that argument with Notre Dame and the Bearcats. I think the Irish still get left out of the top six.

Putting Cincinnati at No. 4 would basically be the committee waiving the white flag. I don’t think that’ll happen until the results absolutely dictate it happening. I expect Oklahoma State to jump into the top six here after blowing out Texas Tech. If Georgia beats Alabama in the SEC title game, the committee will have to waive the flag.

Nick Simon, DK Nation

1. Georgia
2. Ohio State
3. Alabama
4. Cincinnati
5. Michigan
6. Notre Dame

Congratulations Cincinnati. By virtue of you stomping a once 7-0 SMU and Oregon getting bulldozed by Utah, you will make history by becoming the first Group of Five program to crack the top four of one of these rankings. This entire process deserves all of the cynicism in the world, but there’s no way the Bearcats get stiffed here, right? RIGHT?!

Not that it really matters in the long run, but I see Alabama and Ohio State switching positions. The Buckeyes look like the Death Star we’ve come to know and vaporized Michigan State on Saturday while the Crimson Tide had to sweat out a win against a good, but not great Arkansas team. I can see the committee showing OSU some respect here.