Ranking 134 college football teams after Week 11: Will shaky contenders feel an SEC pinch?

Editor’s Note: The Athletic 134 is a weekly ranking of all FBS college football teams.

The ACC and Big 12’s hopes of sending multiple teams to the first 12-team College Football Playoff took a major hit this weekend.

Miami (Fla.) and Iowa State both lost, severely damaging their hopes overall. Meanwhile, Ole Miss’ win at Georgia brought more SEC teams into the Playoff mix instead of eliminating one with a third loss. BYU’s comeback breakout in Utah probably didn’t help the big case with the committee either.

Right now, these leagues’ best hope for multiple bids is an upset in their respective conference championship games that also doesn’t take the top team out of the mix. Those two conferences should also ensure that Tennessee beats Georgia next week and hopes that Alabama and Ole Miss will suffer a second loss somewhere. The two-loss crowd of SEC teams has the potential to squeeze out the hopes of not only the ACC and Big 12 in general, but also a team like Indiana, should the Hoosiers lose in overwhelming fashion to Ohio State.

But this is not the committee. This is The Athletic 134, and I’m standing by my rankings and not commenting on the initial CFP rankings as poll voters sometimes do.

Here is this week’s edition of The Athletic 134.

1-10

Is BYU the fourth best team in the country? I don’t know, but they continue to rack up wins and they still have two wins over top-20 teams in SMU and Kansas State. That’s a good resume. Should Tennessee be higher than the Cougars with the loss to Arkansas or should Penn State and Indiana be higher without a top-25 win? Right now I don’t really think so.

Indiana rises from No. 9 to No. 7 thanks to losses to Georgia and Miami, but the Hoosiers barely held on for a 20-15 victory against a Michigan team that pushed them aside a bit in the second half. I think Indiana should be safe for a CFP spot as long as it beats Purdue, but a loss to Ohio State could start a conversation. We’ll see what happens in two weeks.

Alabama jumps from No. 13 to No. 8 after beating LSU on the road, while Ole Miss climbs from No. 16 to No. 9 after handling Georgia. The Bulldogs are suddenly barely holding on to a spot in the CFP and have lost to both Alabama and Ole Miss. Alabama remains ahead of Ole Miss here because of their performance against LSU, which defeated Ole Miss.

GO DEEPER

2024 College Football Playoff Projections: Indiana gets up to a 92 percent chance to make the field

11-25

Notre Dame basically disappears from my CFP field after Alabama and Ole Miss moved up. The Irish could be another team hoping the SEC will eliminate some of its teams, depending on what the committee shows on Tuesday.

SMU is my new ACC leader at No. 12 and in position for the No. 4 seed. The problem with Miami’s weak resume was that it couldn’t afford a bad loss, and it took one loss to Georgia Tech to drop it from No. 4 to No. 14. Miami’s best wins include Louisville and… Duke? The early season breakouts against Cal and Virginia Tech don’t help. SMU also has wins against Louisville and Duke, plus the win at Pitt (which doesn’t mean much this week), and the only loss is to undefeated BYU.

Colorado is ranked No. 17 and controls its way to the Big 12 title game and a CFP spot after Saturday’s win over Texas Tech. Washington State is 8-1 and ranked No. 18, but the path to a big-time spot could be too far away. Still, the Cougars are having a great season and should feel good about it.

South Carolina jumps to No. 20 after a dominant win against Vanderbilt. Army is also new to this bracket at No. 22 after beating North Texas 14-3. The Black Knights went from zero wins against teams with a winning record to two this weekend, thanks to this game and East Carolina’s win elsewhere. Arizona State takes the No. 25 spot after beating UCF and moves to 7-2.

GO DEEPER

Mandel’s final thoughts: Alabama has its act together and appears headed to the Playoff… again

26-50

Tulane is rolling along quietly and heading to No. 26, very much in the running for a guaranteed Group of 5 playoff bid if Boise State stumbles. Iowa State falls to No. 27 after a loss to Kansas, while Pitt falls to No. 28 after a loss to Virginia, the second consecutive loss for both teams. 8-1 Louisiana may be too far behind to compete for the G5 spot in the CFP, especially since the only loss was to Tulane, but the Ragin’ Cajuns look like the best team in the Sun Belt and have a very good season. now up to number 31.

Georgia Tech jumps to No. 32 after beating Miami. Syracuse falls to No. 40 after a loss to Boston College, while Iowa drops to No. 41 after a loss at UCLA. West Virginia’s win against Cincinnati moves the Mountaineers up to No. 46.

GO DEEPER

Week 11 CFP Race Lessons: Mizzou in the ‘Playoff Hunt’? ACC with one bid?

51-75

UCLA has really turned things around, winning three straight games and moving up to No. 57 after sitting at the bottom of the Power 4 not too long ago. NC State slides to No. 64 after losing to Duke. Kansas jumps from No. 85 to No. 65 thanks to its win over Iowa State. No. 71 UConn is 7-3, its most wins since the 2010 Fiesta Bowl season, after beating UAB.

76-100

San Jose State’s win against Oregon State moves the Spartans to No. 79 and the Beavers to No. 80. Jacksonville State, No. 81, scored on a Hail Mary against Louisiana Tech and missed the winning extra point, but won in overtime anyway to to remain tied in the Conference USA standings.

Oklahoma State’s collapse continued with a 38-13 loss to TCU, making it seven straight losses for the Cowboys, who have fallen to No. 85. Texas State defeated ULM to move up to No. 84. The MAC Pack goes continued, while Miami (Ohio), Ohio and Bowling Green all won, and Northern Illinois handed Western Michigan its first MAC loss. Four teams are tied atop the conference standings at 4-1.

Has East Carolina turned things around since the firing of head coach Mike Houston? The Pirates are 2-0 under interim coach Blake Harrell and have combined to score 105 points in wins against Temple and FAU, moving up to No. 97.

101-134

I haven’t gone numb watching Florida State lose every week, now down to No. 103 after a 52-3 loss to Notre Dame. It’s shocking every time. Mike Norvell started cleaning house early, announcing Sunday that both coordinators had been fired. New Mexico is 4-6 and rises to No. 109 after beating San Diego State. Nevada is arguably the best 3-8 team in the country – the Wolf Pack have now pushed SMU and Boise State to their limits in defeat this season.

Air Force defeated Fresno State to move up to No. 126, and in a battle of one-win teams, UTEP defeated Kennesaw State in overtime, leading to a coaching change at Kennesaw State. Kent State lost 41-0 to Ohio and remains winless and at the bottom of the standings.

The Athletic 134 series is part of a partnership with Allstate. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories prior to publication.

(Photo: Justin Ford/Getty Images)