A period of calm has followed chaos in the College Football Playoff rankings.
Colorado moved up one spot to No. 9 when the committee unveiled its new rankings Tuesday night on ESPN, matching its current position in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls.
Alabama claimed the No. 1 spot, followed by Ohio State, Michigan and Clemson. The teams that are ranked in those top four spots in the final CFP rankings will play in two national semifinal games.
Washington (No. 5), Wisconsin (6), Penn State (7), Oklahoma (8) and Oklahoma State (10) rounded out the top 10. Louisville (No. 11) dropped out of the top 10 after a loss to Houston.
Overall, there was little movement at the top of the rankings, a big change over the previous week in which a handful of top-10 upsets shook up the playoff picture.
The newest rankings improved Colorado’s long odds to reach the College Football Playoff. CU would have to beat No. 22 Utah on Saturday, then win the Pac-12 title game Dec. 2 against either No. 5 Washington or No. 23 Washington State to have a chance to crack the top four as a two-loss team.
“About three weeks ago we wrote off the Pac-12,” ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit said during the telecast revealing the top 25. “Now that door has kind of opened up.”
There is likely to be at least one spot that opens up in the top four next week with Ohio State and Michigan meeting Saturday in a possible playoff elimination game.
The Buffaloes have a chance to end up with victories with four teams currently ranked in the College Football Rankings, and they have road losses to No. 3 Michigan and No. 12 USC.
CU players said earlier Tuesday that they wouldn’t spend too much time worrying about the most recent rankings update.
“I won’t be watching it,” CU cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon said. “I’ll probably be watching Netflix or something.”
Win two more games and there will be plenty of eyes watching where Colorado lands in the playoff rankings.
College Football Playoff rankings
1. Alabama (11-0)
2. Ohio State (10-1)
3. Michigan (10-1)
4. Clemson (10-1)
5. Washington (10-1)
6. Wisconsin (9-2)
7. Penn State (9-2)
8. Oklahoma (9-2)
9. Colorado (9-2)
10. Oklahoma State (9-2)
11. Louisville (9-2)
12. USC (8-3)
13. Auburn (8-3)
14. Florida State (9-3)
15. Florida (8-2)
16. Nebraska 9-2
17. Tennessee (8-3)
18. West Virginia (8-2)
19. Boise State (10-1)
20. Houston (9-2)
21. Western Michigan (11-0)
22. Utah (8-3)
23. Washington State (8-3)
24. Stanford (8-3)
25. Navy (8-2)