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College Football Playoff: Ranking contenders by tier

By John Buhler

Penn State's Juwan Johnson (84) tries to comfort cornerback Amani Oruwariye (21) after a 21-17 loss to Michigan State at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pa., on Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (Abby Drey/Centre Daily Times/TNS via Getty Images)
Penn State's Juwan Johnson (84) tries to comfort cornerback Amani Oruwariye (21) after a 21-17 loss to Michigan State at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pa., on Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (Abby Drey/Centre Daily Times/TNS via Getty Images) /
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Oregon, Washington, College Football Playoff
EUGENE, OR – OCTOBER 13: Running back CJ Verdell #34 of the Oregon Ducks scores the winning touchdown in overtime of the game against the Washington Huskies at Autzen Stadium on October 13, 2018 in Eugene, Oregon. The Ducks won the game 30-27. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /

In the mix (4)

Florida Gators (6-1): Florida has won four-straight SEC games since falling at home to Kentucky. The Gators will need to beat SEC East rival Georgia to stay alive in the Playoff mix. Florida needs another Kentucky loss, but should the Gators win out, they could make the Playoff as an SEC Champion.

Oregon Ducks (5-1): With a win at home over division rival Washington, Oregon looks to be in the mix to win the Pac-12 North. Along with Stanford, Washington and Washington State, they all have just one Pac-12 loss on the season. Since the Ducks have the best quarterback in Justin Herbert, maybe that’s a separating factor to win the North?

Texas Longhorns (6-1): After squeaking by Baylor, Texas is now in the driver’s seat in the Big 12 as the last team without a conference loss. Having the head-to-head over Oklahoma is huge. Though the neutral-site loss to Maryland isn’t great, the Longhorns can get in by being perfect in every Big 12 game they play.

UCF Knights (6-0): UCF is the only Group of 5 team that has a chance of making the Playoff. This is because they went undefeated last year and beat up Auburn in the Sugar Bowl. The Knights will only have 11 regular season games since their date with North Carolina was canceled due to a hurricane. They do have two big conference games remaining against Cincinnati and South Florida, both of whom are undefeated, as well as the title bout with the West Division winner.

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