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SALT LAKE CITY — With questions about Utah’s offense following the season-ending injury to starting quarterback Tyler Huntley, Utah has dropped out of the latest College Football Playoff rankings that were released Tuesday. And following another dominant conference win, Utah State is still unranked this season.
Utah, which was previously at No. 15 in the season’s first rankings, dropped out after a 38-20 loss on the road to Arizona State Saturday. The Utes also lost Huntley for the season after suffering a broken collarbone on his non-throwing arm after sustaining a hit in the third quarter. In his absence, redshirt freshman Jason Shelley will lead Utah’s offense.
The Utes also dropped out of the Associated Press Top 25 Poll Sunday, but is the first team to receive votes in the poll. They do, however, remain in the USA Today Amway Coaches Poll at No. 24.
Two teams from the Pac-12 are ranked this week, with No. 8 Washington State leading the conference after a 19-13 win over Cal on a late-game drive for a game-winning touchdown. Washington, which was held out of the rankings last week, entered in at No. 25 this week after narrowly defeating Stanford 27-24.
Utah State again missed out after a 56-17 win on the road against conference foe Hawaii. The Aggies were selected at No. 14 in the AP Poll and No. 16 in the Coaches Poll released Sunday.
The only team from the Mountain West Conference included in this week’s Top 25 is Fresno State, which stays at No. 23. Fresno State and Utah State will not meet in the regular season this year, but they are projected to play each other in the conference’s championship game.
Fresno State is one of only two schools from the Group of Five conferences ranked. University of Central Florida, which holds a 21-0 record over the last two seasons, leads the G5 teams at No. 12. The Knights have been extremely vocal about their playoff aspirations and desire to be one of the four teams selected at the end of the season.
Leading the Top 25 is Alabama at No. 1 after shutting out LSU 22-0 in a high-profile matchup Saturday. The Crimson Tide currently look unbeatable and are the perceived favorite to win the national championship. Behind the favorite is No. 2 Clemson, which claimed a 77-16 win over Louisville, No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 Georgia and No. 6 Oklahoma.
