Here are the nine schools still alive and their chances to be one of the four teams selected for the playoffs.
Advertisement
The CFP selection committee reevaluates the teams each week, and Long said games at the start of the season are ideally weighted equal to games at the end of the season.
Long said the Tar Heels, with two games against FCS competition, no wins against teams now ranked and a loss to 3-9 SC, have a strength of schedule issue compared to even Ohio State. “Clearly we know that Oklahoma is the Big 12 champion”.
Ditto for Alabama, and the Tide would likely stay put at No. 2 with a win over Florida.
If Stanford loses, however, the Tar Heels would still be in the conversation, along with Ohio State. The semifinals will be hosted at the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl on December 31.
Iowa is No. 4 (12-0) and Michigan State (11-1) is No. 5, setting up a playoff play-in game in Saturday’s Big Ten title game.
Houston (11-1), which comes in at No. 19 this week, is the highest ranked team from the Group of 5.
Ohio State is No. 6, followed by Stanford, which moved up two spots after Saturday’s win over Notre Dame.
In order for Ohio State to make the playoff, either Clemson or Alabama need to lose.
Clemson vs. North Carolina- This may be the biggest game of them all because of where Clemson stands in the rankings going into this week. Florida State 10-2 10.
The top five teams remained the same in the newest College Football Playoff rankings. Notre Dame, which lost a heartbreaker to Stanford last week, checks in at No. 8.
Ohio State is positioned to backdoor its way into the playoff with just one quality win on the resume if it gets the right results elsewhere. In that scenario – assuming Clemson remains atop the rankings – the Sooners would be matched with the team that crushed them 40-6 in last season’s Russell Athletic Bowl. Meanwhile, top-ranked Clemson (12-0, 8-0 ACC) struggled in its victory over nine-loss SC, the Southeastern Conference’s worst team, and Iowa (12-0, 8-0 Big Ten) defeated Nebraska. Every single one has been to a team ranked in the top 15.
On Tuesday night, the newest College Football Playoff Rankings were released.
Advertisement
Stanford is the only Pac-12 team in the conversation, and the conference could potentially be eliminated entirely if USC upsets the Cardinal in the conference title game. North Carolina hasn’t beaten a team that’s now ranked by the committee, and its best win this season is over either 8-4 Pitt or 8-4 Miami.
