The shakeup creates two top-five matchups in conference championship games coming up on Saturday, a day before the College Football Playoff bracket is announced. Oregon, the nation’s only unbeaten team, will face No. 3 Penn State in the Big Ten game in Indianapolis. No. 2 Texas will play No. 5 Georgia in the Southeastern Conference game in Atlanta, a rematch of their top-five meeting in October won by the Bulldogs.
No. 4 Notre Dame, 11-1 and a winner of 10 straight, won’t play again until the College Football Playoff.
Ohio State, which lost for the fourth straight time to Michigan and was knocked out of the Big Ten title game, dropped five spots to No. 7, behind Tennessee.
SMU is No. 8 and followed by Indiana and Boise State. The Broncos are in the top 10 for the first time since 2011 and the highest-ranked Group of Five team, two spots ahead of No. 12 Arizona State, the highest-ranked Big 12 team.
Miami’s loss at Syracuse cost the Hurricanes a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game, and possibly the CFP, and dropped them six spots to No. 14. Clemson, which plays SMU in the ACC game, lost at South Carolina and fell six places to No. 18.
South Carolina has won six straight — four against ranked opponents — and earned a three-rung promotion to No. 13. Mississippi remained No. 15 and was followed by Iowa State and BYU.
(AP Photo Mike Stewart)
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