Alabama, Clemson, Michigan, Washington top 4 in College Football Playoff rankings

Published 6:57 pm Tuesday, November 8, 2016

There’s a new playoff participant as of now.

Washington came in at No. 4 in the College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday. The Huskies (9-0) debuted at No. 5 in the season’s first set of rankings last week despite being one of four Power Five unbeatens but moved into the top 4 following Texas A&M’s 35-28 loss at Mississippi State on Saturday.

New rankings will be released each week until the end of the regular season with the final poll coming out Dec. 4. The semifinals — No. 1 against No. 4 and No. 2 against No. 3 — will be played at the Peach and Fiesta bowls on Dec. 31 with the winners squaring off in the national championship game Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

Email newsletter signup

Texas A&M, which was fourth in last week’s rankings, dropped to No. 8. The Aggies will host Ole Miss on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

The top 3 in the rankings remained the same in Alabama, Clemson and Michigan, respectively. The Crimson Tide (9-0) remained perfect with a 10-0 win at LSU last week while Clemson (9-0) and Michigan (9-0) won in routs over Syracuse and Maryland, respectively.

Rounding out the top 10 are No. 5 Ohio State, No. 6 Louisville, No. 7 Wisconsin, No. 9 Auburn and 10th-ranked Penn State.