Washington advanced three spots to No. 9 and Washington State jumped six places to No. 19 in the College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday night on ESPN. The Huskies made their move into the Top 10 with a 38-3 romp over Oregon Saturday while the Cougars knocked off Stanford, 24-21. The Cardinal had been No. 17 in the initial CFP poll published last week.
The top four teams in the final CFP poll in December are the national semifinalists in the Rose and Sugar bowls Jan. 1. The national championship is Jan. 8 in Atlanta.
Washington’s No. 9 ranking and WSU’s No. 19 reflect the wire service polls released earlier this week. The Huskies (8-1, 5-1) are No. 9 in the Associated Press poll and No. 8 in the coaches poll. WSU (8-2, 5-2) is No. 19 in the AP rankings and No. 20 in the coaches poll.
The only other Pac-12 school to make this week’s rankings is USC at No. 11.
Georgia (9-0) remained No. 1 for the second consecutive week ahead of No. 2 Alabama (9-0), which is No. 1 in AP and coaches polls. Notre Dame (8-1), Clemson (8-1) and Oklahoma (8-1) round out the top five. The top four in the poll is the same as last week.
Washington is on the road this week, at Stanford Friday in Palo Alto (7:30 p.m., the UW’s final road game of the season. Washington State is also on the road, at Utah in Salt Lake City (2:30 p.m., Pac-12 Networks).
College Football Playoff Top 25
1. Georgia (9-0)
2. Alabama (9-0)
3. Notre Dame (8-1)
4. Clemson (8-1)
5. Oklahoma (8-1)
6. TCU (8-1)
7. Miami (8-0)
8. Wisconsin (9-0)
9. Washington (8-1)
10. Auburn (7-2)
11. USC (8-2)
12.Michigan State (7-2)
13. Ohio State (7-2)
14. Penn State (7-2)
15. Oklahoma State (7-2)
16. Mississippi State (7-2)
17. Virginia Tech (7-2)
18. UCF (8-0)
19. Washington State (8-2)
20. Iowa (6-3)
21. Iowa State (6-3)
22. Memphis (8-1)
23. North Carolina State (6-3)
24. LSU (6-3)
25. Northwestern (6-3)
