Week 11 marks the first week of games following the first release of the College Football Playoff Rankings. Each week during the season our panel of experts will rank the Top 12 teams in college football. This season our panel includes:  Rob Shields, Mike Lowe, Zack Kiesel, Brian (Pedro Cerrano) McGuire, Chris (Ricker Says) Ricker, Steve Birrer, and Chris Stoner. We are looking forward to another exciting season of college football and race to the College Football Playoff.

Week 11 featured two games that had a major impact on the Deified Dozen and the College Football Playoff rankings, and neither game disappointed. At the top of the poll, LSU jumped to a big halftime lead, then held off an Alabama comeback effort to remain #1 in our poll. The loss dropped the Tide to #5. Meanwhile, Minnesota also survived a late charge by Penn State to win their biggest game so far this season. The win vaulted the Gophers to #8 among the Dozen, and Penn State fell to #11. Elsewhere, Oklahoma barely escaped their matchup with Iowa State, but paid a price for the close loss as they dropped to #12. Georgia got a solid win against Missouri to replace Alabama in the last Playoff spot at #4.

Week 12 features one head-to-head Dozen matchup when Georgia travels to the Plains to take on their SEC cross-division rival, #10 Auburn. While the Bulldogs remain the likely SEC East division winner, they must avoid another loss to remain in the Playoff picture. Minnesota also faces a tough task when they travel to Kinnick Stadium, the graveyard of ranked teams, to play Iowa. And finally Oklahoma hits the road to play unbeaten Baylor, who barely missed our rankings this week, in a crucial Big 12 matchup of teams hoping to sneak into the Playoff race.

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Mike Lowe
Mike Lowe

College Football Analyst

Mike is a Baltimore native living in Portland, OR since 2007. He currently runs his own business specializing in video production and online marketing. Prior to that he was a legal technology consultant, worked for 9 years at Johns Hopkins University and served 6 years in the Air Force. He also enjoys travel, food, beer, and is a volunteer at the Oregon Humane Society.

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