Auburn jumps to No. 6 in College Football Playoff rankings

Auburn jumps to No. 6 in College Football Playoff rankingsAuburn jumps to No. 6 in College Football Playoff rankings

Nov. 14, 2017

By Greg Ostendorf
AuburnTigers.com

AUBURN, Ala. -- There might not have been a more signature win in college football this past weekend than Auburn taking down No. 1 Georgia, 40-17, and the Tigers were rewarded by the College Football Playoff selection committee, jumping to No. 6 in the latest rankings that came out Tuesday night.

"We played our best game of the year," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said Tuesday. "We played well on all three phases against a very talented team. We talked about championship urgency the past few weeks. I feel like our team really seized the moment on Saturday."

A month ago, following a loss at LSU, it felt like Auburn's goal of winning the SEC and reaching the playoff were all but over. However, if the Tigers knock off No. 1 Alabama at home a week from Saturday and beat now No. 7 Georgia again the following week in the SEC championship game, they'd be conference champs and a serious contender for the playoff.

But before either of those games, Auburn must first handle its business this coming Saturday at home against Louisiana Monroe.

"We bring up the SEC championship every team meeting that we have and at the beginning of every practice" Auburn running back Kerryon Johnson told Paul Finebaum on his show Tuesday. "In order to get there, we have to get a win this Saturday. In order to get there, we have to win next Saturday and the week after that. So it's easy to not look ahead when you put it like that. You have to take care of things one week at a time."

"Somebody's always on the high horse week to week, and we just focus on not being that team that falls off the high horse. We just want to stay up there, do our job, and let the rest take care of itself."

Auburn remains the best two-loss team in this week's rankings with its only losses coming on the road at No. 2 Clemson and No. 20 LSU.

Greg Ostendorf is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @greg_ostendorf