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College Football Playoff Rankings: Where did Mississippi State, Florida State Others Land

Mississippi State took the inaugural No. 1 rankings in the College Football Playoff Rankings last week. Did they hold on after a tough victory over Arkansas?

Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

The second College Football Playoff Top-25 rankings were released Tuesday, and the rankings still carry an SEC flavor with six teams in the top-25 with No. 1 Mississippi State, Auburn (3) and Alabama (5) leading the way.

Given that Ole Miss (11) still stands just outside the top-10 with two losses shows that SEC teams are carrying quite a bit of respect with the committee, and it adds to the idea that two SEC teams can make the playoff.  Of course, the Oregon Ducks look as if they will make the playoff if they win out, and with Florida State also being in the same boat, there just may not be enough room for two SEC schools unless one of these conference frontrunners fail to win out. Even if these teams falter, teams such as TCU, Kansas State and Arizona State are close enough to make an attack at the top-four as potential one loss conference champions.

As far as the SEC goes, either Auburn or Alabama are assured of having at least two losses, and with the Crimson Tide playing LSU and Mississippi State the next two weeks, there is opportunity for the Tide to pick up a second loss before the Iron Bowl.

For the SEC, the nightmare scenario would be LSU defeating Alabama this weekend, the Crimson Tide knocking off Mississippi State next weekend, and then the Tide knocking off Auburn in the Iron Bowl with Mississippi State knocking off Ole Miss and then losing in the SEC Championship game. In that case, it would be unlikely, without some other teams dropping games as well, that the SEC would put anyone into the playoff, and if they did get a spot, it would just be one team.

If these projections went into effect today, the Bulldogs would meet up with the Oregon Ducks in (presumably) the Sugar Bowl, and Florida State and Auburn would square off in (again, presumably) the Rose Bowl.

Rank Team Last week Week 10 result Toughest opponent left (per F/+) If the season ended today ...
1 Mississippi State (8-0) 1 Won 17-10 vs. Arkansas Ole Miss Sugar Bowl vs. Oregon
2 Florida State (8-0) 2 Won 42-31 at No. 25 Louisville Miami Rose Bowl vs. Auburn
3 Auburn (7-1) 3 Won 35-31 at No. 4 Ole Miss Alabama Rose Bowl vs. Florida State
4 Oregon (8-1) 5 Won 45-16 vs. Stanford Utah Sugar Bowl vs. Mississippi State
5 Alabama (7-1) 6 Idle Auburn Orange Bowl
6 TCU (7-1) 7 Won 31-30 at No. 20 WVU Kansas State New Year's bowl
7 Kansas State (7-1) 9 Won 48-14 vs. Oklahoma St. TCU New Year's bowl
8 Michigan State (7-1) 8 Idle Ohio State New Year's bowl
9 Arizona State (7-1) 14 Won 19-16 vs. No. 17 Utah Notre Dame New Year's bowl
10 Notre Dame (7-1) 10 Won 49-39 at Navy Louisville New Year's bowl
11 Ole Miss (7-2) 4 Lost 35-31 vs. No. 3 Auburn Mississippi State New Year's bowl
12 Baylor (7-1) 13 Won 60-14 vs. Kansas Oklahoma
13 Nebraska (8-1) 15 Won 35-14 vs. Purdue Wisconsin
14 Ohio State (7-1) 16 Won 55-14 vs. Illinois Michigan State
15 Oklahoma (6-2) 18 Won 59-14 at Iowa St. Baylor
16 LSU (7-2) 19 Idle Alabama
17 Utah (6-2) 17 Lost 19-16 at No. 14 Arizona St. Oregon
18 UCLA (7-2) 22 Won 17-7 vs. No. 12 Arizona USC
19 Arizona (6-2) 12 Lost 17-7 at No. 22 UCLA Arizona State
20 Georgia (6-2) 11 Lost 38-20 vs. Florida Auburn
21 Clemson (6-2) 21 Idle Georgia Tech Orange Bowl
22 Duke (7-1) 24 Won 51-48 at Pittsburgh Virginia Tech
23 West Virginia (6-3) 20 Lost 31-30 vs. No. 7 TCU Kansas State
24 Georgia Tech (7-2) NR Won 35-10 vs. Virginia Clemson
25 Wisconsin (6-2) NR Won 37-0 at Rutgers Nebraska