Top 4 same in CFP poll; lots of jostling near bottom

November 18, 2015 at 2:45 a.m.

by The Associated Press

Clemson held off Syracuse 37-27 at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y., last Saturday and held onto to the No. 1 ranking when the third College Football Playoff poll was released Tuesday. The Tigers struggled, but survived with help from Shaq Lawson (above), who kept the pressure on Syracuse quarterback Zach Mahoney.
Clemson held off Syracuse 37-27 at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y., last Saturday and held onto to the No. 1 ranking when the third College Football Playoff poll was released Tuesday. The Tigers struggled, but survived with help from Shaq Lawson (above), who kept the pressure on Syracuse quarterback Zach Mahoney.

The top four teams remained unchanged in this week's College Football Playoff rankings, with much of the movement among the challengers for those final four spots.

Clemson (10-0) remained atop the rankings for the third consecutive week, followed by Alabama (9-1) at No. 2, Ohio State (10-0) at No. 3 and Notre Dame (9-1) at No. 4.

Iowa (10-0) landed in the No. 5 spot for the second consecutive week.

Oklahoma State (10-0) moved up two spots into sixth place, followed by Oklahoma (9-1). The Sooners jumped from No. 12 last week to No. 7 after their impressive 44-34 victory over Baylor on Saturday.

No. 8 Florida (9-1), No. 9 Michigan State (9-1) and No. 10 Baylor (8-1) rounded out the top 10.

This is the third week of rankings, with the selection committee set to release them weekly for six total weeks. The final rankings will be revealed at 11 a.m. Central Dec. 6 on ESPN. The top four teams qualify for the two semifinal games, which will be held at the Orange and Cotton bowls on Dec. 31. The winners will meet in the national championship game on Monday, Jan. 11, at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

Meanwhile, the remaining venues that host the New Year's Six bowl games -- Rose, Sugar, Fiesta and Peach -- will select the highest ranked remaining teams that fill their criteria. The highest ranked conference champion from the Group of 5 conferences (American, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West and Sun Belt) also will receive a bowl spot.

Navy (8-1) remained the top Group of 5 team this week, with the Midshipmen moving up four spots from No. 20 to No. 16. Houston (10-0) stayed undefeated after the Cougars' thrilling 35-34 victory over Memphis. The Tigers (8-2) stayed at No. 21 despite the loss.

The selection committee is composed of 12 members, including Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long, Barry Alvarez, Mike Gould, Kirby Hocutt, Tom Jernstedt, Bobby Johnson, Tom Osborne, Dan Radakovich, Condoleeza Rice, Mike Tranghese, Steve Wieberg and Tyrone Willingham.

"Most teams have now played 10 games, so we have a substantial body of work to discuss," said Long, the selection committee chairman.

Sports on 11/18/2015

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