College Football Playoff Rankings: Oregon jumps FSU to rise to #2 in latest rankings

Oregon is #2 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, which comes as a big shock as it means the one-loss Ducks pass the undefeated Florida State Seminoles.

While Oregon's win against Utah came with a number of significant injuries, the Ducks notched another solid road win to go along with their shellacking of (now) #11 UCLA. While Oregon's win against Michigan State lost a little luster with MSU's loss to Ohio State, the committee is obviously giving Oregon a good boost with that strong out of conference victory. Most importantly, the committee does not appear to be punishing Oregon for their loss to Arizona, which came when Oregon was down their top 3 offensive tackles (two of which will be back during the final month of the season).

Mississippi State still sits at #1 in the rankings based on their early wins @LSU and against Auburn. With games this month against Alabama and Mississippi, they will be significantly tested.

Florida State dropped to #3, and though they are undefeated, their struggles with good but not great teams (Clemson and Notre Dame) have seemingly played a significant role in their slide.

Meanwhile, TCU's big win over Kansas State, along with their early OOC win over #25 Minnesota has vaulted the Horned Frogs over Alabama into the final playoff spot.

Alabama sits just on the outside at #5, as does #6 ASU. Both teams will have their chances to beat top 4 teams in the coming weeks and it is assumed they control their destinies along with the the top 4.

With the #2 ranking (if Oregon can hold onto it), Oregon is all but guaranteed to host a semi-final game in the Rose Bowl, assuming they win out. Oregon has a bye week which comes at a perfect time, then a home game against Colorado and a Civil War in Corvallis before the Pac-12 Championship game, which at this point appears it will be against Arizona State.