College Football Playoff picks after Week 7

For the second straight week a Big Ten mainstay falls out of the College Football Playoff conversation after a loss in Iowa City.

Last week it was the Penn State Nittany Lions, this week it was the hometown Iowa Hawkeyes. Purdue knocked off the No. 2 Hawkeyes, 24-7, on the road and it ended Iowa’s multi-week run in the playoff picks. The Hawkeyes still have a chance to make it to the Big Ten title game despite the loss so their playoff chances are not extinguished just yet.

Moving to the teams that made the top four rankings, the Georgia Bulldogs maintained the top spot on each ballot following a comfortable 30-13 victory over previously unbeaten Kentucky. The Bulldogs have looked head and shoulders above each of their opponents this season and the unanimous No. 1 ranking reflects the dominance seen on the field.

For the first time this season, Cincinnati lands on every ballot after a 56-21 win over UCF and the Iowa loss. On top of the unanimous selection, the Bearcats climbed as high as No. 2 in 12 of the 14 rankings, their highest rank of the season.

After the top two, things get somewhat less predictable. It didn’t take long for Alabama to climb back onto nearly every ballot despite the Week 6 loss at Texas A&M. The Crimson Tide bounced back in a big way — as Nick Saban teams are wont to do — with a 49-9 rout of Mississippi State in Starkville and once again look like a CFP shoo-in.

Oklahoma is 7-0 and seems to have found its quarterback. The Sooners land on 12 ballots this week, the most votes they’ve received all…