College Football Playoff Rankings, Week 10: 5 top 10 teams with no chance
By John Buhler
4. No. 10 Nebraska Cornhuskers: 7-1 (4-1)
The Nebraska Cornhuskers might have the clearest shot of any team on the outside looking in not named Washington. Nebraska is the No. 10 this week and the Cornhuskers’ path to the 2017 College Football Playoff is very simple: just win out. The problem is that is it is going to be so hard for Nebraska to do that.
Nebraska may be 7-1 (4-1), but its best wins are against 4-4 teams like the Indiana Hoosiers and the Northwestern Wildcats on the road. The Cornhuskers get a boost from the Wyoming Cowboys being good in the Mountain West at 6-2, but absolutely nothing for beating an atrocious Oregon Ducks team.
Even though Nebraska lost the head-to-head tiebreaker against Big Ten West rival in No. 8 Wisconsin, the Cornhuskers would still win the division if they win out. That’s because Wisconsin has two Big Ten losses to Michigan and Ohio State.
Looking forward at Nebraska’s four remaining regular season games, the Cornhuskers will end up losing at least once more this year. They have at No. 6 Ohio State on Saturday, Minnesota, Maryland, and at Iowa left on the slate.
The Cornhuskers’ date in Columbus on Saturday is a must-win. If they can’t shock the Buckeyes, then it will likely be Wisconsin winning the Big Ten West. However, winning out and finishing 11-1 (8-1) would absolutely get the Cornhuskers to Indianapolis for the 2016 Big Ten Championship.
There, the Cornhuskers will meet either Michigan, Ohio State, or even Penn State. They’d probably lose to Michigan and Ohio State at neutral-site Lucas Oil Stadium. It’s not likely Nebraska gets to the College Football Playoff, but a win on Saturday over the Buckeyes and winning the Big Ten Championship would without a doubt get them there.