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SALT LAKE CITY — In the second week of the College Football Playoff rankings, Utah has found some favor with the committee and has moved up in the rankings.
Utah moved up to No. 10 in the rankings following a 34-23 victory over Washington Saturday to go 8-1 on the season. Utah was previously ranked No. 12 in this year's first College Football Playoff rankings.
The new ranking comes two days after the Associated Press Top 25 Poll ranked Utah No. 10 and the Amway USA Today Coaches Poll ranked Utah No. 13. Two teams, LSU and Michigan State, lost over the weekend, helping Utah move up in all ranking outlets.
"It has been another exciting week in college football," said playoff selection committee chairman Jeff Long in a statement. "Given how many games remain, how many conferences still have their toughest competition ahead, combined with the results of games played to date, we will continue to see teams move up, or down, by quite a bit week to week."
The Utes remain one of three teams from the Pac-12 included in the rankings, with Stanford moving up to No. 7 and UCLA moving to No. 19. Stanford was ranked No. 11 and UCLA No. 23 in the season's first College Football Playoff Poll that was released last week. With both Stanford and Utah in the Top 10, they remain the only viable options available to the Pac-12 to have a team represent in the College Football Playoffs.
The committee kept Clemson in the top spot for its second week in a row, with Alabama, Ohio State, and Notre Dame rounding out the four teams slated to be invited into the College Football Playoff at this point in the season.
"This week the vote reflected a strong agreement on the top four teams," committee chairman Jeff Long told media in a teleconference. "We spent a considerable amount of time debating teams 5 through 8, and it was very close. The gap separating these teams is incredibly narrow."
Long added that a team's strength of schedule was a big factor in this week's rankings.
"Winning big games against tough opponents is crucial, and it is reflected in our rankings," he added. "Strength of schedule was again discussed at length by the committee members."
See the complete poll below.
CFB Playoff Poll through Nov. 7
| Rank | School | Overall record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clemson | 9-0 |
| 2 | Alabama | 8-1 |
| 3 | Ohio State | 9-0 |
| 4 | Notre Dame | 8-1 |
| 5 | Iowa | 9-0 |
| 6 | Baylor | 8-0 |
| 7 | Stanford | 8-1 |
| 8 | Oklahoma State | 9-0 |
| 9 | LSU | 7-1 |
| 10 | Utah | 8-1 |
| 11 | Florida | 8-1 |
| 12 | Oklahoma | 8-1 |
| 13 | Michigan State | 8-1 |
| 14 | Michigan | 7-2 |
| 15 | TCU | 8-1 |
| 16 | Florida State | 7-2 |
| 17 | Mississippi State | 7-2 |
| 18 | Northwestern | 7-2 |
| 19 | UCLA | 7-2 |
| 20 | Navy | 7-1 |
| 21 | Memphis | 8-1 |
| 22 | Temple | 8-1 |
| 23 | North Carolina | 8-1 |
| 24 | Houston | 9-0 |
| 25 | Wisconsin | 8-2 |
