Utah Football: Utes Ranked No. 23 in latest College Football Playoff Rankings

Tuesday night, the most important ranking system in college football was announced, and the Utes fell at No. 23 in the College Football Playoff top 25 rankings. Utah is coming off of a loss to now No. 22 ranked UCLA. The Pac-12 now has five teams in the top 25 - Stanford (9), Oregon (17), Washington State (20), UCLA (22) and Utah (23). Stanford still has a shot at the playoff and will have some name opponents (Notre Dame and the Pac-12 Championship Game) to prove themselves worthy.

The Pac-12 has earned more respect as the season has gone along, thus is one reason for the Utes ranking in the poll. It's frustrating for Utah fans, as they saw a golden opportunity slip away, but are still on the cusp of their best season in the Pac-12, and may have a nice bowl game lined up.

Here are the rankings for this week:

1. Clemson

2. Alabama

3. Oklahoma

4. Iowa

5. Michigan State

6. Notre Dame

7. Baylor

8. Ohio State

9. Stanford

10. Michigan

11. Oklahoma State

12. Florida

13. Florida State

14. North Carolina

15. Navy

16. Northwestern

17. Oregon

18. Ole Miss

19. TCU

20. Washington State

21. Mississippi State

22. UCLA

23. Utah

24. Toledo

25. Temple