Arizona State drops out of CFP rankings after rivalry loss to Arizona

Arizona State fans saw now surprise in how the College Football Playoff Selection Committee handled the Sun Devils' tough 23-7 loss to Arizona during rivalry week.

The once No. 20 team in the country was dropped entirely out of the Top 25 when the latest rankings were released Tuesday ahead of conference championship games. The Wildcats took a massive jump from No. 25 to No. 18 because of their upset over ASU.

Arizona State still received three votes in the latest Associated Press Top 25 rankings released on Sunday, a mere consolation for finishing the regular season 8-4 and missing out on defending its Big 12 title from last season.

With the Sun Devils now awaiting which bowl game they'll play in, the rest of the conference now turns to the top two teams to see if the league will get more than one representative in the 12-team chase for a national title.

Big 12 positioned for two CFP berths after latest rankings

There was one giant upset during the games in Week 14 - No. 16 Texas took down undefeated No. 3 Texas A&M - and that caused a slight yet significant shift in the top half of the CFP bracket.

The Aggies dropped four spots to No. 7 and outside the first-round byes. By virtue of that slip, the Big 12 leader Texas Tech was bumped up from No. 5 to No. 4 and could secure a bye into the quarterfinal by clinching the league title.

The Red Raiders' opponent on Saturday - No. 11 BYU - remained in its position and is the first team excluded from the bracket. In March Madness terms, the Cougars reside on the bubble and essentially were just told by the committee they must beat Texas Tech to get in or pray for some chaos in other conferences like the ACC or American Athletic.

Don't be surprised, though, if the Cougars get the last bid into the dance. Nobody seems to want to win the ACC, which hilariously sees the Miami Hurricanes as its highest-ranked representative (No. 12) but won't see them playing for the conference title nor in the playoff whatsoever. No. 17 Virginia is on upset alert against a scrappy Duke team that snuck in the back door.

If the Blue Devils pull it off, look to the committee to likely select the American Athletic champion (projected as No. 20 Tulane) and/or the Sun Belt champ (projected as No. 25 James Madison) to fill the final two auto-bids.

Notre Dame slipping from No. 9 to No. 10 opens the door for some tough decisions if BYU plays Texas Tech close down in Dallas. The Irish don't play a conference championship game and had a relatively easy schedule down the stretch compared to the Cougars and Red Raiders. Crazier things have happened.