Coastal Carolina has moved up in the College Football Playoff rankings. What it means
Coastal Carolina moved up to No. 13 in the College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday.
The Chanticleers (10-0) have been in the top 20 in each of the three CFP rankings to date, debuting at No. 20 on Nov. 24 and moving up to 18th on Dec. 1 after a win over Appalachian State. The Chanticleers defeated No. 13 Brigham Young 22-17 on Saturday at Brooks Stadium to bolster their resume.
The teams agreed to play late in the week after Liberty (9-1) backed out of the game because of coronavirus cases within the program, and ESPN’s College GameDay broadcast from Brooks Stadium on Saturday morning prior to the game.
The Chants have aspirations of playing in a New Year’s Six bowl game – considered the top six bowls with the most lucrative payouts to participants – and those generally go to teams ranked in the top 12 following conference championship games, though one spot is reserved for the highest ranked champion from a Group of Five conference.
Cincinnati (8-0) of the American Athletic Conference, which has already had its scheduled game with No. 24 Tulsa (6-1) this upcoming Saturday canceled because of coronavirus cases within its program, is ahead of Coastal of the Sun Belt Conference in the CFP rankings at No. 8.
Cincinnati is still scheduled to face Tulsa in the AAC Championship Game on Dec. 19, when CCU is scheduled to face No. 19 Louisiana (9-1) in the Sun Belt title game at Brooks Stadium.
“If Cincinnati doesn’t get another game because they’re still dealing with this, can Coastal Carolina creep up and steal their spot?,” ESPN analyst David Pollack said on the College Football Playoff: Top 25 show Tuesday night.
Coastal has been ranked in the national AP Top 25 and USA Today Amway Coaches polls for eight consecutive weeks.
CCU moved up from No. 14 last week to No. 11 Sunday in the AP Top 25 and No. 13 in the Coaches Poll. Louisiana is ranked 17th in both the AP and coaches polls.
BYU (9-1) and CCU swapped places as the Cougars fell to No. 18.
“The committee was still underrating BYU in my judgment, and perhaps underrating Coastal Carolina,” College Football Playoff: Top 25 host Rece Davis said.
This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 7:19 PM.
