FOX Sports analyst Urban Meyer is changing his Top 4 heading into Week 13 of the college football season.
Prior to the selection committee's third Top 25 reveal on Tuesday, Meyer slotted Oregon in his final four for the first time, an encouraging sign for a Ducks team that has won nine consecutive games since a season-opening loss to Auburn.
In addition, Meyer has Clemson in the No. 3 spot, LSU at No. 2 and his familiar Ohio State Buckeyes at No. 1. For the record, he's picking the Buckeyes to win it all.
Meyer is one of three FOX Sports analysts taking Ohio State, joining Matt Leinart and Joel Klatt. Rob Stone, Reggie Bush and Brady Quinn are taking the Ducks. Meyer joins Klatt in putting Oregon in the mix, not the most popular pick nationally. Georgia is the other preferred pick in the No. 4 spot among FOX Sports panelists.
Alabama is out of the mix for everyone for the first time this season following Saturday's season-ending injury to Tua Tagovailoa. The Crimson Tide lost traction after their Week 11 loss to LSU, but since it came against the top-ranked team in the country, many didn't exclude Alabama from the final four — until now.
“Oh it was certainly a part of the discussion, obviously," Playoff chair Rob Mullens said Tuesday when asked about Tagovailoa's situation and how that handicaps the Crimson Tide. "We’re aware of how the games unfold and we’re aware of all the injuries, key injuries to players in the game. But again for this week, we noticed that Alabama still carried on to a convincing win.”
Alabama stayed at No. 5 in Tuesday's rankings, but the Crimson Tide appear to be losing ground to Oregon.
“Well, I mean there was a lot of discussion in four through six, obviously, looking at those teams," Mullens said. "Georgia, when you look again, they added to their resume with an impressive win at Auburn and Oregon went on with an easy win against Arizona. So you know, there’s a lot of debate and a lot of discussion amongst all those teams.”
Meyer has spent a lot of his first season with FOX Sports dissecting the Big Ten, specifically Ohio State's strength at the top. He knows the roster like the back of his hand after recruiting Ryan Day's players.
"This is as good a team, stocked with NFL talent," Meyer said last month after Ohio State's win over Wisconsin. "What you're going to find out ... it's all about staying healthy now. That (Ohio State) team stays healthy, we all know what happens. You've got to stay healthy, man. That includes Tuesday and Wednesday practices, and then when you play and pull guys out as you're beating other teams.
"That goes down to first of all, coaching, and then, second, what kind of leaders do you have on this team. This is exceptional leaders on this team right now and you heard Ryan say it, but you're a speed bump away from something bad happening. And how do you do that? Injuries ... loss of focus, start reading the clippings — (players thinking about) NFL, not NFL — that's all going to be pouring in all over the place. That's life in the big city. You've got to work through it."