There's nothing like Rivalry Week in college football. It also felt extra special this weekend, with spots in the College Football Playoff determined by matchups like texas A&M vs Texas and Ohio State vs Michigan . As the action draws to a close, it's now time to take a look at how the College Football Playoff rankings after Week 14 could look before conference title games.
Let's dive into the Week 15 college football rankings, predicting what the College Football Playoff Rankings may look like after Rivalry Week.
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The Ohio State Buckeyes are the best team in college football. Going into Michigan Stadium on Saturday with the weather favoring the Wolverines' style of play, Ohio State proved it can win by any means necessary. The Buckeyes have the best defense in the nation, a strong run game and arguably the Heisman Trophy pick at quarterback in Julian Sayin . Ohio State is headed to the Big Ten Championship Game, a matchup between the two best college football teams in 2025.
Related: Winners, Losers from Ohio State Buckeyes vs Michigan Wolverines
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The most fitting end to a perfect regular season for the Indiana Hoosiers was blowing the doors off Purdue , a 56-3 final. Indiana dominated this one from start to finish, rushing for 355 yards and 5 touchdowns while its defense allowed just 282 total yards to the Boilermakers. Indiana (12-0) has earned its rightful place in the Big Ten Championship Game and no one should be questioning if the Hoosiers can win that and then go on to dominate in the College Football Playoff.
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Gunner Stockton had by far his worst performance of the season and the Georgia Bulldogs still knocked out Georgia Tech . It's a credit to Nate Frazier (108 rushing yards) and this Bulldogs defense that the passing game could be so ineffective and this team still found a way to win. Fittingly, with Texas A&M losing, it also sets up a rematch between Alabama and Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. Kirby Smart gets a chance to exercise his demons, and the Bulldogs have to feel like their second-half performance against the Crimson Tide earlier this season is proof they can end that streak.
Related: Winners, Losers from Georgia Bulldogs vs Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
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To the surprise of no one, Behren Morton and the Texas Tech Red Raiders absolutely dominated West Virginia in Saturday's win. It sets the table for Texas Tech to take an 11-1 record into the Big 12 Championship Game and a rematch versus BYU , who they crushed 29-7 just a few weeks ago. The Red Raiders are undefeated with Morton as the starter, and they should be heavily favored to beat the Cougars and clinch a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff.
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Considering that Dan Lanning had a 1-3 record versus Washington coming into Rivalry Week, going on the road and defeating the Huskies wasn't a given. After a slow start, the Ducks outscored Washington 23-14 in the final three quarters. The Ducks defense has been a real difference-maker as of late, with its two takeaways proving instrumental in Saturday's victory. Oregon won't get to play in the Big Ten Championship Game, but it's absolutely one of the most dangerous wild-card teams in the College Football Playoff.
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It was a mistake to punish Florida State for the Jordan Travis injury a few years ago and it would be a mistake for the College Football Playoff committee to punish the Ole Miss Rebels if Lane Kiffin leaves for LSU . Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy have been outstanding this season, especially as of late. The committee can reasonably debate ranking Ole Miss or Texas A&M higher, but the Rebels belong in the playoffs even if Kiffin is in Louisiana .
Related: Winners, Losers from Ole Miss Rebels vs Mississippi State Bulldogs
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The heartbreaking loss in Austin for the Texas A&M Aggies is painful for two reasons. First, it wipes out the undefeated season and they lost the game that had by far the most significance in the regular season. It also prevents Texas A&M from making the SEC Championship Game, which hurts even more moving forward because the Aggies will now only have one win (Sept. 13 at Notre Dame) over a team in the top 25 of the College Football Playoff Rankings. This is still a playoff team, but it now faces a much longer and more challenging road to playoff success.
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The Oklahoma Sooners defense saved the day again. John Mateer put this team in an early hole, throwing 3 interceptions in the first three quarters and failing to lead a touchdown drive with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter. Fortunately for him, Brent Venables' defense was suffocating and kept it a 10-3 game. Mateer and this Sooners offense finally came alive, with a 58-yard touchdown with 5 minutes to go putting Oklahoma up for good. The Sooners are headed to the College Football Playoff.
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Updated Sunday after Stanford vs Notre Dame
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The Alabama Crimson Tide had an opportunity in the Iron Bowl to prove unequivocally that they belong in the College Football Playoff. Instead, Kalen DeBoer's team had to fight tooth and nail. When it mattered, though, Ty Simpson delivered the go-ahead scoring drive in a hostile environment and Alabama's defense got the big stop when it mattered. Now, we get Alabama vs Georgia in the SEC Championship Game.
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The BYU Cougars (11-1) found themselves in an early hole at home on Saturday, trailing Central Florida 14-0 entering the second quarter. From then on, BYU wiped the floor with the Knights. It was exactly the level of domination fans have grown used to, outside of the Texas Tech game. Now, the Cougars get their shot at revenge against the Red Raiders and there's a spot in the College Football Playoff at stake, too.
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After beating Texas A&M decisively on Friday, it feels inevitable that the Texas Longhorns will make the College Football Playoff. The real question is, should they? Texas certainly looked inferior in the 25-point loss to Georgia, it needed overtime to beat Kentucky and Mississippi State , and it lost to a three-win Florida team. Just looking at the resume, it doesn't scream College Football Playoff team. However, other factors also matter to the committee.
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The good news for the Miami Hurricanes is that they went into Pittsburgh and utterly dismantled the Panthers. Carson Beck was excellent and freshman receiver Malachi Toney all but ensured he'll have a 1,000-yard season. Unfortunately for Mario Cristobal and Co., the teams ahead of them in the College Football Playoff rankings all won and Texas beat No. 3 Texas A&M by two scores. Miami still does have that season-opening win over Notre Dame on its resume, but it feels like a safe bet that the CFP committee will put more weight on the Longhorns' resume even if they have three losses. Making matters worse for the Hurricanes, Virginia 's win puts them in the ACC Championship Game instead of Miami.
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The good news for the Vanderbilt Commodores is that Diego Pavia capped off his final regular season with the team with an emphatic beatdown of Tennessee at Neyland Stadium. Knocking the Vols around was the one thing missing from his legendary, statue-worthy resume with this program. Unfortunately for Vanderbilt, at least from a College Football Playoff perspective, the teams ranked ahead of it all won on Rivalry Week. Importantly, that includes the two teams the Commodores have lost to (Alabama and Texas). Vandy just feels like it will narrowly miss out on a playoff spot.
Related: Winners, Losers from Vanderbilt Commodores vs Tennessee Volunteers
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The Utah Utes' season was effectively on the line entering the fourth quarter at Kansas , trailing 14-10 with the Jayhawks possessing the football on 1st-and-Goal at the 10-yard line. Two plays later, Jackson Bennee snagged a game-changing interception. The Utes scored a touchdown on their next drive, covering 80 yards in four plays. Kansas was poised to answer until Elijah Davis made a house call with a 97-yard pick-six. The only unfortunate thing for Utah is that there's no room to move up in the top 25 rankings and two teams right behind in the top-20 beat ranked teams.
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Two missed field goals and some stalled drives in Bruins' territory made things a little closer for the USC Trojans than they needed to be on Saturday night against UCLA , but Jayden Maiava and King Miller delivered another victory. A bowl win next month would mean a 10-win season and, we'd at least like to think, would end the speculation about Lincoln Riley's hot seat.
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Wins like these over Virginia Tech might become increasingly rare once the James Franklin era begins, but Chandler Morris and the Virginia Cavaliers certainly took advantage of their rival on Saturday night. Virginia's defense is what really set the tone in a game they controlled from start-to-finish. The Cavaliers end the regular season with a 10-2 record, their first 10-win season since 1989 and only the second in program history .
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The far superior team won The Game easily on Rivalry Week and the Michigan Wolverines' limitations with two injured running backs and a true freshman quarterback were put on full display. It doesn't change the fact that the Wolverines' future is still pretty bright with quarterback Bryce Underwood . However, some serious work needs to be done to beef up the trenches because that cost them dearly against USC (224 rushing yards) and Ohio State this year.
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Credit to head coach Brent Brennan for the work he's done this year with the Arizona Wildcats football program. There were huge shoes to fill after Jedd Fisch's departure and that was evident in last season's four-win year. On Friday against Arizona State, the Wildcats took advantage of 5 takeaways and outscored the Sun Devils 20-nothing in the second half. Finishing the regular season with a 9-3 record after a five-game win streak, Brennan now has a great chance at joining Fisch, Rich Rodriguez and Dick Tomey as the only Arizona coaches to record double-digit wins in a season.
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In what might be one of his final games with the program, Jon Sumrall's Tulane Green Wave didn't break a sweat in defeating Charlotte. It wasn't even a particularly clean game for the Green Wave, overcoming two first-half giveaways and still leading 21-0 and cruising the rest of the way to a victory.
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The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets defense delivered a season-best performance on a huge stage against the potential SEC champion. Unfortunately for Brent Key, it was the same game where Haynes King and Jamal Haynes couldn't get anything going. Georgia Tech losing three of its last four games merits consideration for removal from the College Football Playoff Rankings, but this team also had a Hail Mary shot at taking the Bulldogs to overtime and that says something.
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With Arizona State, Pittsburgh and Tennessee all losing by multiple scores in Week 14 to ranked opponents, each picking up their fourth loss of the season, a spot in the College Football Playoff rankings opens up again for the Houston Cougars. Conner Weigman ran all over Baylor's defense, delivering his second consecutive 100-yard game on the ground and his second this season with 2 rushing touchdowns. Plus, Houston has that win over Arizona earlier this season and it also beat the Sun Devils.
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North Texas and James Madison both have a case for a top-25 spot. We're giving the slight edge to North Texas, even with head coach Eric Morris now poised to take over at Oklahoma State . The Mean Green do have that ugly home loss in early October to South Florida (63-36), but they are 6-0 since then and beat Navy by 14 points. With a spot locked up in the American Conference Championship Game, North Texas' playoff hopes are still alive.
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The theme for Group of Five teams this week seems to be getting big wins and facing rumors of the head coach heading for a Power 4 job. Now, James Madison awaits to see if Bob Chesney bolts for UCLA. As for Saturday's win over Coastal Carolina , pushing JMU to 11-1 on the season, it marks the fourth time in the last six games that the Dukes put up 50-plus points and won by three-plus scores.
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The Navy Midshipmen got a little too cute early against Memphis , but they returned to their bread-and-butter after the first quarter. In the final three quarters, Navy outscored the Tigers 28-14 and completely overwhelmed Memphis on the ground. With the victory, the 9-2 Midshipmen secured a 7-1 conference record and now have the resume necessary to crack the top 25.
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