The College Football Playoff rankings were released on Tuesday night, and it's not the best news for Florida football and its chances at.a New Year's Six bowl.
Here is the new Top 15:
1. Ohio State (11-0)
2. LSU (11-0)
3. Clemson (11-0)
4. Georgia (10-1)
5. Alabama (10-1)
6. Utah (10-1)
7. Oklahoma (10-1)
8. Minnesota (10-1)
9. Baylor (10-1)
10. Penn State (9-2)
11. Florida (9-2)
12. Wisconsin (9-2)
13. Michigan (9-2)
14. Oregon (9-2)
15. Auburn (8-3)
The biggest takeaway in this for the Gators is that the committee still sees UF at No.11 and behind Penn State, who is at No. 10. The committee also slotted Ohio State ahead of LSU in this version of their rankings, which seems to insinuate that they view the Big Ten higher than the SEC.
The Nittany Lions has two quality wins over No. 13 Michigan and No. 17 Iowa, while the Gators only has one top 20 win and that is to No. 15 Auburn.
So what does that mean for Florida and the NY6 bowl?
Sugar Bowl
This would go to Alabama at this time since they are the highest ranked SEC team not in the playoff. But there is still a situation where 'Bama makes the playoffs and Georgia makes this bowl.
Florida needs a miracle to get into this bowl. Auburn would need to beat Alabama AND Georgia would need to get blown out by LSU. Then the committee will need to consider that UF beat Auburn and they kept the game close against the Tigers. So maybe a little prayer should be added to this scenario for the Gators.
This doesn't even consider the scenario that Oklahoma could make the playoffs if they beat both Oklahoma State and Baylor, and thus possibly leap frogging both Georgia and Alabama.
Orange Bowl
So as we mentioned in our earlier story, the Orange Bowl will pick the highest ranked ACC team and then will pick the highest ranked team between Notre Dame, the SEC, and the Big Ten as the opponent. With Penn State ahead of Florida, the Nittany Lions are now in place to take this bowl.
Florida still has a shot at this bowl if No. 8 Minnesota loses to No. 11 Wisconsin. The Badgers would then have to be blown out by Ohio State in the the Big Ten Championship to help matters along. A big thing in this scenario is whether or not the committee will hold the Illinois loss against Wisconsin or propel them over Florida for its win over Minnesota, a top ten team.
Cotton Bowl
This bowl pits the highest-ranked team remaining against the highest-ranked Group of 5 conference champion.
Right now, Oklahoma and Baylor are ahead of the Gators at No. 7 and No. 9 respectively. Penn State is also above the Gators, but remember the highest ranked Big Ten team, not Ohio State, will head to the Rose Bowl.
With these rankings as is, Baylor would be headed to this bowl to face Memphis and Oklahoma would meet Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.
Confused yet?
These are the games we will be watching in regards to the rankings this weekend:
No. 5 Alabama takes vs. No. 15 Auburn
No. 8 Minnesota vs. No. 12 Wisconsin
No. 7 Oklahoma vs. No. 21 Oklahoma State
Then comes to the conference championships:
SEC: No. 2 LSU vs. No. 4 Georgia
Big Ten: No. 1 Ohio State vs. Minnesota OR Wisconsin
PAC-12: No. 6 Utah/USC vs. No. 14 Oregon
Big 12: No. 9 Baylor vs. No. 7 Oklahoma
This weekend will help clear up the picture a bit more and maybe help out with the headache.
