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SALT LAKE CITY — The three-year ride as one of only five teams ranked in the College Football Playoff rankings each week continues for Utah.
Following Utah's loss to Colorado Saturday, Utah moved up in the latest College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday. Utah was previously ranked No. 22 in last week’s rankings, but moved up to No. 20. On Sunday, Utah fell out of the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, but stayed in the USA Today Amway Coaches Poll, falling to No. 24.
As it stands a week before the final rankings are released, the Pac-12 will be included in the four-team playoff, with Washington ranked at No. 4 ahead of the Pac-12 Championship game against Colorado Saturday. Should Washington lose Saturday, it's likely the Pac-12 would be left out of the playoff.
"The committee continues to be impressed by what we have seen on the field from one-loss Washington," selection committee chairman Kirby Hocutt said. "Their schedule is not as strong as others, but they have played and beaten good teams, including a win on the road last week."
Also ranked from the Pac-12 is No. 8 Colorado, No. 11 USC and No. 18 Stanford. Washington State, which was ranked last week, fell out of rankings, leaving five teams from the Pac-12. The Pac-12 is tied with the ACC and SEC as the nation leaders with five teams included in the latest rankings, followed by the Big Ten at four, Big 12 at three, and the AAC at two. The MAC also has one team ranked.
Alabama remains the No. 1 team in the latest rankings, followed by No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Clemson and No. 4 Washington. With an outside shot of making the playoff is No. 5 Michigan and No. 6 Wisconsin. If the final four were to remain, Alabama would play Washington and Ohio State would play Clemson in the semifinal round.
Hocutt said there is a "small separation between Washington and Michigan" and that Washington's strength of schedule has "been a concern for the committee" and that "it continues to be a concern."
"They have played and beat some good teams," Hocutt said. "It's a team that the Selection Committee has been impressed with all year, and we saw a convincing win last week, I would say a quality win in convincing manner last week. ... Don't think I can emphasize enough the small margin of separation that the Selection Committee sees between those two teams."
Despite not being in the Big Ten championship game, Ohio State and Michigan remain ranked higher than Penn State and Wisconsin, who will play for the Big Ten title. That situation has caused a headache for the Selection Committee, but Hocutt said the committee "stays focused on our charge, and that is to rank the best teams in college football."
The two semifinal bowl locations this season are the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday, Dec. 31 on ESPN, and the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona also on Saturday, Dec. 31 on ESPN. The National Championship game will be played in Tampa, Florida on Jan. 9, 2017 on ESPN.
The final College Football Playoff rankings will be released on Sunday, Dec. 4 at 10 a.m. on ESPN.
Fifth Rankings: The #CFBPlayoff Selection Committee Top 25 for games played through November 26. pic.twitter.com/tSlBNBS48K
— CFBPlayoff (@CFBPlayoff) November 30, 2016
