TCU Horned Frogs Move To No. 4 in College Football Playoff Rankings, Remain Ahead of Baylor

This week's College Football Playoff rankings have been released by the committee, and the TCU Horned Frogs have jumped from No. 6 to No. 4. The Frogs benefited from an Auburn loss to Texas A&M, and they helped themselves with a 41-20 victory over then-No. 7 Kansas State. TCU remains ranked ahead of No. 7 Baylor, who destroyed Oklahoma in Norman 48-14, their first ever win at Oklahoma, and their first win on the road against a ranked team in their last 38 attempts.

TCU also jumped Alabama, who struggled to put away No. 17 LSU in Baton Rouge.

Meanwhile, West Virginia dropped out of the rankings after a 33-16 loss to Texas. Oklahoma dropped out of the rankings as well after their embarrassing loss to the Bears.

Early season opponent Minnesota (7-2), whom TCU beat 30-7, also popped into the rankings at No. 25 after a thorough beating of Iowa.

Something interesting to note is that Oregon jumped Florida State to take over the No. 2 spot in the rankings. If the playoffs were to start today, the four teams in would be  Mississippi State, Oregon, Florida State and TCU.

Obviously these last four weeks are crucial for both the Horned Frogs and Baylor. TCU needs to win big in their remaining three games to have a chance of staying ahead of Baylor, who has the more difficult game remaining on either schedule, facing off against now No. 13 Kansas State in Waco on December 6.

However, there's a decent buffer between TCU and Baylor, showing that the committee seems to value strength of schedule ahead of head to head. Take that for what you will.

It's going to be a race to the finish line, and you'd better believe both schools will hammer away at why they should be the Big 12 representative in the first-ever College Football Playoff.

Here's the full Top 25.

Rank	Team	Last week	Week 11 result	Toughest opponent left (per F/+)	If the season ended today ...
1	Mississippi State (9-0)	1	Won 45-16 vs. Tennessee-Martin	Alabama	Sugar Bowl vs. TCU
2	Oregon (9-1)	4	Won 51-27 at No. 17 Utah	Oregon State	Rose Bowl vs. Florida State
3	Florida State (9-0)	2	Won 34-20 vs. Virginia	Miami	Rose Bowl vs. Oregon
4	TCU (8-1)	6	Won 41-20 vs. No. 7 Kansas State	Texas	Sugar Bowl vs. Mississippi State
5	Alabama (8-1)	5	Won 20-13 (OT) at No. 16 LSU	Auburn	Orange Bowl vs. Clemson
6	Arizona State (8-1)	14	Won 55-31 vs. No. 10 Notre Dame	Arizona	New Year's bowl
7	Baylor (8-1)	13	Won 48-14 at No. 15 Oklahoma	Kansas State	New Year's bowl
8	Ohio State (8-1)	14	Won 49-37 at No. 8 Michigan State	Minnesota	New Year's bowl
9	Auburn (7-2)	3	Lost 41-38 vs. Texas A&M	Alabama	New Year's bowl
10	Ole Miss (8-2)	12	Won 48-0 vs. Presbyterian	Mississippi State	New Year's bowl
11	UCLA (8-2)	18	Won 44-30 at Washington	USC	New Year's bowl
12	Michigan State (7-2)	8	Lost 49-37 vs. No. 14 Ohio State	Maryland
13	Kansas State (7-2)	7	Lost 41-20 at No. 6 TCU	Baylor
14	Arizona (7-2)	19	Won 38-20 vs. Colorado	Arizona State
15	Georgia (7-2)	20	Won 63-31 at Kentucky	Auburn
16	Nebraska (8-1)	13	Idle	Wisconsin
17	LSU (7-3)	16	Lost 20-13 (OT) vs. No. 5 Alabama	Arkansas
18	Notre Dame (7-2)	10	Lost 55-31 at No. 9 Arizona State	Louisville
19	Clemson (7-2)	21	Won 34-20 at Wake Forest	Georgia Tech	Orange Bowl vs. Alabama
20	Wisconsin (7-2)	25	Won 34-16 at Purdue	Nebraska
21	Duke (8-1)	22	Won 27-10 at Syracuse	Virginia Tech
22	Georgia Tech (8-2)	24	Won 56-23 at NC State	Georgia
23	Utah (6-3)	17	Lost 51-27 vs. No. 4 Oregon	Arizona
24	Texas A&M (7-3)	NR	Won 41-38 at No. 3 Auburn	LSU
25	Minnesota (7-2)	NR	Won 51-14 vs. Iowa	Ohio State