Northwestern came in at No. 18 in the second edition of College Football Playoff Rankings for this season. Last week, the Wildcats entered the rankings at No. 21.
Coming off a 23-21 win over Penn State, Northwestern (7-2 overall, 3-2 Big Ten) bumped up a few spots do in part to the Wildcats win but also teams such as Ole Miss,Memphis and Texas A&M all faltering.