The top five teams in the College Football Playoff rankings prevailed again.
In Week 11 on Saturday, the No. 3 Michigan Wolverines finally beat a ranked opponent in the No. 10 Penn State Nittany Lions. The No. 4 Florida State Seminoles held off the Miami Hurricanes in another hard-hitting edition of their rivalry. The Washington Huskies, No. 5 in the rankings, got pressured by the Utah Utes but came out with a home win.
There were questions around the Wolverines after the Big Ten announced a suspension of coach Jim Harbaugh for the sign-stealing controversy. While Harbaugh awaits a judge's ruling on a temporary restraining order against the suspension, offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore served as interim head coach. It turns out that all the Wolverines needed was Blake Corum and their stifling defense. Corum had 145 of Michigan's 227 total rushing yards. He also scored two touchdowns. Michigan's defense allowed just 238 total yards and Penn State QB Drew Allar completed 11 of 23 passes for only 74 yards.
Washington trailed by four three different times against Utah before Rome Odunze caught a 33-yard touchdown to put the Huskies up for good. Washington is 10-0 for the first time since 1991 when the Huskies split the national title with Miami.
To finish the regular season undefeated for the first time since 2014, FSU has to manage through a November of upset-minded in-state rivals looking to play spoiler. The 'Noles got past the first one in beating Miami. Running back Trey Benson had 80 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Against an aggressive defense, Miami completed just 33% of its passes. After North Alabama in Week 13, FSU has the Florida Gators to close the regular season.
Then there are the Ohio State Buckeyes and Georgia Bulldogs. The top two teams in the playoff rankings dominated in wins over the Michigan State Spartans and Ole Miss Rebels.
Week 12 is expected to get easier for Michigan and Ohio State, which face unranked teams. However, Georgia and Washington go on the road to face the Tennessee Volunteers and Oregon State Beavers, respectively.
Andrea Adelson: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Florida State 4. Ohio State
Blake Baumgartner: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Ohio State 4. Florida State
Kyle Bonagura: 1. Georgia. 2. Michigan 3. Washington 4. Florida State
Bill Connelly: 1. Michigan 2. Georgia 3. Ohio State 4. Florida State
Heather Dinich: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Michigan 4. Washington
David Hale: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Ohio State 4. Washington
Chris Low: 1. Georgia, 2. Michigan, 3. Ohio State, 4. Florida State
Harry Lyles Jr.: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Ohio State 4. Florida State
Ryan McGee: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Washington 4. Florida State
Adam Rittenberg: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Ohio State 4. Florida State
Alex Scarborough: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Florida State 4. Ohio State
Mark Schlabach: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Washington 4. Florida State
Paolo Uggetti: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Ohio State 4. Florida State
Tom VanHaaren: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Florida State 4. Ohio State
Dave Wilson: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Florida State 4. Ohio State