College Football Rankings After Week 11: Texas Rises, LSU Slips, Flights Disrupted

Georgia remains the top-ranked team in college football after Week 11, while Texas strengthened its College Football Playoff case with a 22-21 win over LSU. According to The Tennessean, the weekend produced no upsets among the top of the SEC, and the biggest disruption came from a nationwide flight stoppage rather than anything on the field.

The Federal Aviation Administration grounded flights across the country on Friday, according to Fox Sports. The move upset travel plans for many teams, pushed back start times for some games and delayed one game by a full day.

How the FAA stoppage changed the weekend

Ole Miss at Oklahoma was moved to Sunday at 1 p.m. ET in Norman, The Tennessean reported. Fox Sports said its rankings columnist will update his list after that game as needed. That means the weekend's rankings do not yet reflect the result.

The results that moved the rankings

Georgia built a three-touchdown lead in the first quarter and beat Missouri 48-21, The Tennessean reported. Nate Frazier ran for three touchdowns in the game. Alabama beat Vanderbilt 21-6 on the road, with quarterback Keelon Russell accounting for all three Crimson Tide touchdowns, despite earlier reports that Austin Mack would start because of concerns about Russell's injury.

Texas, led by quarterback Arch Manning, won at LSU on the Longhorns' last offensive play, according to The Tennessean. Tennessee won 22-7 at Texas A&M for its eighth victory, and Auburn became bowl-eligible with a 41-9 win over Mississippi State in coach Alex Golesh's first season.

Elsewhere, Fox Sports noted that Utah edged Arizona 40-39, and Colorado beat Houston 42-32 after rushing for 249 yards and five touchdowns. Liberty beat Middle Tennessee 28-23 to improve to 9-1, and Fox Sports added the Flames to its top 25. Fox Sports said SMU, South Carolina and New Mexico dropped out of its list.

Where the polls stand

In the poll order The Tennessean published, Georgia is first with 58 first-place votes, followed by Utah with 11 and Notre Dame with one. UCLA, Indiana, Miami, Alabama, Texas and Tennessee follow, with Wake Forest and Texas Tech next. The AP Top 25 was due Monday.

Fox Sports devoted much of its column to LSU, arguing that coach Lane Kiffin's first season has fallen short of expectations given his pay and the roster LSU assembled. The column said the Tigers have lost four games to ranked opponents and are 3-4 in SEC play. Fox described the $13 million figure as what LSU pays Kiffin; that is the columnist's characterization.

Why it matters for the playoff race

For fans, the rankings are an early guide to who is likely to reach the 12-team playoff, though they do not set the field. NCAA.com explained that the selection committee's rankings, not the polls, determine the bracket. In the committee's Nov. 10 rankings, Georgia was No. 1, Utah No. 2, Alabama No. 3 and UCLA No. 4. Those top four teams would receive first-round byes.

The same rankings had Kentucky as the last team in and Texas Tech as the first team out. Under the rules NCAA.com described, the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC champions get automatic bids. So does the highest-ranked champion-or-not from the American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12 and Sun Belt, and Notre Dame if it is ranked in the top 12. That structure explains why Group of Six teams such as Liberty and Boise State, which Fox Sports called the last one-loss teams in that group, draw attention.

What happens next

NCAA.com said the committee will release three more in-season rankings before its final rankings and the official bracket on Sunday, Dec. 6. First-round games are set for Dec. 18-19. Quarterfinals follow on Dec. 30 and Jan. 1, and the semifinals are on Jan. 14 and 15. The national championship game is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 25, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Fox Sports listed several Week 12 games, including LSU at Tennessee, Houston at West Virginia, Arizona at Kansas State and Liberty against Western Kentucky.

Around Prague, based on reporting by FOX Sports, NCAA.com, The Tennessean