Josh’s College Football Rankings 2024–Conference Championships

The conference championships ended up being pretty good. Some close games, some blowouts, some upsets…the kind of weekend that reminds us that championship games still matter. Clemson had no hope of making the playoffs, but now they are in, and Alabama is out. It would be kind of funny if Clemson ended up winning the whole thing (kind of like when Ohio State jumped TCU in 2014, people complained about them getting in then they won the National Championship).

Honestly, I debated on doing a ranking this week. But I thought it would be good to update some of the spots I felt were off a little bit. Plus the championship games did help tell us something about certain teams. So I will make these explanations quick.

1. Oregon (13-0)–#1–W 45-37 #3 Penn State
2. Penn State (11-2)–#3–L 45-37 #1 Oregon. The Nittany Lions lost, and yet they could have won. A few stupid penalties (and a couple bad/missed calls against them) cost them. Oregon has one of the best defenses in the country, and Penn State ran the ball all over them, and was able to throw easily at times (even with sub-par receivers). In my mind, Penn State can play with anyone, they have the talent to win against any team. They can beat Oregon, they can beat Ohio State. They are one of the best teams in the country. Time to beat SMU then Boise State then most likely Georgia then a rematch with Oregon. That is my dream!
3. Georgia (11-2)–#5–W 22-19 OT #2 Texas
4. Texas (11-2)–#2–L 22-19 OT #5 Georgia
5. Notre Dame (11-1)–#5
6. Tennessee (10-2)–#7
7. Ohio State (10-2)–#8
8. Arizona State (11-2)–#12–W 45-19 #18 Iowa State. The Sun Devils shut up the doubters yet again. I kept reading stuff about how Iowa State would slow them down and win a low-scoring affair.
9. Boise State (12-1)–#10–W 21-7 UNLV
10. SMU (11-2)–#6–L 34-31 #17 Clemson. I think I had the Mustangs a little high.
11. Indiana (11-1)–#9
12. Ole Miss (9-3)–#11
13. South Carolina (9-3)–#13
14. Clemson (10-3)–#17–W 34-31 #6 SMU. What a crazy ending!
15. Miami (10-2)–#14
16. Alabama (9-3)–#15
17. Illinois (9-3)–#16
18. BYU (10-2)–#19
19. Army (11-1)–#24–W 35-14 Tulane
20. Colorado (9-3)–#20
21. Texas A&M (8-4)–#21
22. Iowa State (10-3)–#18–L 45-19 #12 Arizona State
23. Missouri (9-3)–#22
24. Duke (9-3)–#23
25. Syracuse (9-3)–#25

Honorable Mentions

• Memphis (10-2)–HM
• Louisville (8-4)–HM
• UNLV (10-3)–HM–L 21-7 #10 Boise State
• Kansas State (8-4)–HM
• Tulane (9-4)–HM
• Baylor (8-4)–HM
• LSU (8-4)–HM
• Iowa (8-4)–HM
• Michigan (7-5)–HM
• Texas Tech (8-4)–HM
• Georgia Tech (7-5)–HM

I am not going to post anything about the upcoming games. I will do that in my bowl game post. I might do a playoff post as well.