CFP Rankings Analysis: New Order Confirms It's an SEC World Out There

With eight teams in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, the SEC is once again in a great position to land two of them in the final four.

As expected, this week's College Football Playoff rankings leave us with six teams realistically in the playoff hunt: Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Georgia, Oklahoma and Ohio State. Three of those teams are virtual locks to get in no matter what happens this week: Alabama, Clemson and Notre Dame. With the Sooners and Buckeyes breathing down their neck, the Bulldogs probably need to win to get in.

Elsewhere, we've already debated Oklahoma vs. Ohio State if UGA loses this week, and walked through all the possible scenarios around championship weekend (we even threw in a quite-unlikely situation with UCF at No. 4 just for kicks).

What else did we learn this week?

CONFERENCE PECKING ORDER

This conference's dominance is far from being news at this point, but with Missouri sliding in at No. 24 this week, the SEC boasts eight teams in the rankings. The conferences that come closest are the Big Ten and Big 12, each with four teams in the CFP top 25. We're not pointing this out to get a "well, duh" from y'all. We're just bringing it up for anyone out there who's already madder than a puffed toad about the possibility Alabama and Georgia make the final four just like they did last season. If it does happen, it'll probably be well-deserved.

WHAT'S UCF'S CEILING?

Losing star quarterback McKenzie Milton to an awful injury right before the American Athletic Conference Championship Game was devastating for the Knights. Even so, UCF is still favored to beat Memphis this weekend. Just how high could UCF climb if two of Georgia, Oklahoma and Ohio State lose? The AAC champs would likely be looking at a No. 6 ranking; a laudable accomplishment for sure, but still fairly dissapointing for UCF and its Group of 5 brethren. And even if all three of those aforementioned schools lose, one can assume the Knights wouldn't be ahead of enough of them to finish No. 4. (UCF is already behind two-loss Michigan and it's not as if Memphis provides a season-ending résumé boost.)

The full rankings are below.

1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Notre Dame
4. Georgia
5. Oklahoma
6. Ohio State
7. Michigan
8. UCF
9. Florida
10. LSU
11. Washington
12. Penn State
13. Washington State
14. Texas
15. Kentucky
16. West Virginia
17. Utah
18. Mississippi State
19. Texas A&M
20. Syracuse
21. Northwestern
22. Boise State
23. Iowa State
24. Missouri
25. Fresno State