Northwestern has risen to No. 16 in the Week 12 College Football Playoff rankings, which were released Tuesday night.
The Wildcats moved up four spots from last week's No. 20 ranking after a 13-7 win at previously-25th-ranked Wisconsin. Northwestern won in controversial fashion, but dominated defensively and forced five Badger turnovers.
Northwestern benefited from not only its own win, but also from losses by Houston, TCU, LSU and Utah. All four dropped below NU in the rankings.
Sixteenth is the highest the Wildcats have ever reached in the College Football Playoff rankings, which are in their second year of existence.