College Football Playoff Rankings: Projected top 10 after Ohio State, Penn State losses
By John Buhler
The Big Ten is in a really bad spot to have a team make the College Football Playoff. Here is the projected top 10 after Ohio State and Penn State lost.
College football continues to amaze us on this fine Saturday in early November. In Week 10, two of the top-10 teams lost in a matter of minutes. Given that it was the No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes and the No. 7 Penn State Nittany Lions, the Big Ten’s chances of getting a team into the College Football Playoff looks very bleak.
Sure, the Big Ten still has an undefeated team in the No. 9 Wisconsin Badgers, but they haven’t beaten anybody of note thus far. The No. 15 Michigan State Spartans, who beat Penn State at home on a last-second field goal, might be the best shot the Big Ten has. Michigan State already has two losses on the season.
While Penn State lost by a field goal on the road, Ohio State just got bulldozed on the road against a 5-3 Iowa Hawkeyes team in Iowa City. The Buckeyes now have no shot at making the playoff with two blowout losses on the year.
Though we still have plenty of games left on the slate, here is a projected top 10 after the Ohio State and Penn State losses on Saturday evening.
Projected top 10 of the College Football Playoff, Week 11
- Georgia Bulldogs (9-0)
- Alabama Crimson Tide (8-0)*
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-1)
- Clemson Tigers (8-1)
- Oklahoma Sooners (7-1)*
- TCU Horned Frogs (7-1)*
- Wisconsin Badgers (9-0)
- Washington Huskies (7-1)*
- Virginia Tech Hokies (7-1)*
- Michigan State Spartans (7-2)
The Georgia Bulldogs stay at No. 1 after beating their SEC East rival South Carolina Gamecocks at home by two touchdowns. Assuming a win at home over the No. 19 LSU Tigers, the Alabama Crimson Tide will stay at No. 2, but inch closer to overtaking No. 1 Georgia.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish beat the Wake Forest Demon Deacons by 11 points and will stay at No. 3. This week, the top-four doesn’t change, as the No. 4 Clemson Tigers edge out the No. 20 North Carolina State Wolfpack in Raleigh.
Assuming a win in a wild one in Bedlam, the No. 5 Oklahoma Sooners will stay as the first team out this week. Winning the Bedlam Series could push the Sooners into the top-four, but Clemson did beat a division rival on the road in Week 11.
Moving into No. 6 would be the TCU Horned Frogs, assuming they beat the Texas Longhorns later this evening. The Wisconsin Badgers dismantled the Indiana Hoosiers, but that only has them move up from No. 9 to No. 7. Wisconsin still hasn’t beaten a decent team yet this season.
At No. 8 would be the Washington Huskies, assuming they can knock off the Pac-12 North rival Oregon Ducks later tonight. The new No. 9 team in the country would be the Virginia Tech Hokies. This is assuming that the Hokies can pull off the upset of the undefeated Miami Hurricanes. How is Miami still undefeated?
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The last team that makes the top 10 would be Michigan State. They would edge out the Auburn Tigers as the best two-loss team in the country. It is not a good day to be a fan of Ohio State football, Penn State football, or really Big Ten football. The Big Ten is now not likely to get a team into the College Football Playoff.