The College Football Playoff Selection Committee has released its third set of Top 25 rankings, and Clemson got a small bump after beating Louisville on Saturday.
The Tigers (9-1, 7-0 ACC) are still sitting outside the four-team playoff but moved from No. 10 to No. 9 in the third CFP rankings of the 2022 season, the committee announced Tuesday night on ESPN.
Eleven weeks into the season, No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Michigan and No. 4 TCU are now projected to make the four-team playoff, per the committee.
The committee also ranked No. 5 Tennessee, No. 6 LSU, No. 7 Southern Cal and No. 8 Alabama ahead of Clemson. The Tigers got some help from Oregon, which lost at home to Washington last weekend and dropped from No. 8 to No. 12 on Tuesday.
Clemson clinched the ACC Atlantic Division title and a conference championship game berth outright with its 31-16 win over Louisville on Saturday. The Tigers host Miami (5-5, 3-3) in Memorial Stadium this weekend.
Clemson’s clearest path back into the CFP conversation remains closing the regular season with home wins against Miami and rival South Carolina, then beating UNC in the ACC championship game. UNC, which clinched the ACC Coastal Division title on Saturday, moved from No. 15 to No. 13 in Tuesday’s rankings.
That would put the Tigers at 12-1 and in the best possible position ahead of the Dec. 4 Selection Day. Still, they’d need dominoes to fall across other leagues to seriously contend for the No. 4 spot and a seventh playoff spot in eight years (they missed it in 2021).
As of this week, most bowl projections forecast the Orange Bowl as Clemson’s most likely postseason destination. The Orange Bowl annually hosts the ACC champion or the highest remaining ACC team if the champion advances to the CFP. Other projections have Clemson in the Gator Bowl and Cheez-It Bowl, two lower-tier Florida bowls that also have ACC tie-ins.
The College Football Playoff Selection Committee has been tasked since 2014 with ranking and ultimately matching the No. 1 and No. 4 teams and No. 2 and No. 3 teams in semifinal games that rotate annually among six major bowls.
This season, the CFP will release updated rankings each Tuesday of November before issuing its final rankings on Sunday, Dec. 4, also known as Selection Day.
The Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., and the Peach Bowl in Atlanta will host this season’s playoff semifinals on December 31, 2022, with SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles set to host the national championship game on January 9, 2023.
Third CFP Top 25 ranking of 2022
— No. 1: Georgia (10-0)
— No. 2: Ohio State (10-0)
— No. 3: Michigan (10-0)
— No. 4: TCU (10-0)
— No. 5: Tennessee (9-1)
— No. 6: LSU (8-2)
— No. 7: Southern Cal (9-1)
— No. 8: Alabama (8-2)
— No. 9: Clemson (9-1)
— No. 10: Utah (8-2)
— No. 11: Penn State (8-2)
— No. 12: Oregon (8-2)
— No. 13: UNC (9-1)
— No. 14: Ole Miss (8-2)
— No. 15: Kansas State (7-3)
— No. 16: UCLA (8-2)
— No. 17: Washington (8-2)
— No. 18: Notre Dame (7-3)
— No. 19: Florida State (7-3)
— No. 20: UCF (8-2)
— No. 21: Tulane (8-2)
— No. 22: Oklahoma State (7-3)
— No. 23: Oregon State (7-3)
— No. 24: NC State (7-3)
— No. 25: Cincinnati (8-2)
