Week 12 of the 2020 college football season didn’t offer quite as much chaos as the week before (unless you count the canceled Clemson-Florida State game). But there were a few clear standouts that the CBS Sports poll accounted for.
Northwestern upset Wisconsin 17-7 to move to 5-0 on the season, taking a commanding lead in the Big Ten West. With two more wins in their final three games, the Wildcats will secure their second Big Ten Championship Game appearance in the last three years. As a result, they were moved all the way to No. 10 from No. 24.
But while Northwestern is flying high, the top teams in the Big 12 are struggling. Oklahoma State lost to arch-rival Oklahoma, dropping them from the top-10, and all but assuring that there will be no Big 12 representative in the College Football Playoff.
Meanwhile, BYU and Oregon continue to climb the ranks as other teams fall. Fans of both schools want them to play each other so badly to improve their odds of making the College Football Playoff, but they may be left disappointed.
Here’s a look at CBS Sports’ college football top 10. You can find the full top 25 here.
- Notre Dame
- Alabama
- Ohio State
- Clemson
- Florida
- Cincinnati
- BYU
- Oregon
- Texas A&M
- Northwestern
We’re still awaiting the first College Football Playoff poll of the season, which should give us an idea of where these teams really stand in the national title picture.
Obviously the five teams at the top all control their own destinies. If any of those five teams go undefeated the rest of the way, they’ll be in.
But if just two of those schools stumble to the finish line, there will be some fascinating discussions to be had in December.