The final 12-team College Football Playoff bracket is far from clear, but a handful of would-be contenders were practically eliminated on Saturday. Their defeats were immediately entered into evidence to further (rightfully) drag the CFP Selection Committee's initial rankings that placed way too much stock in them.
With just three weeks left in the regular season, the committee should self-correct and drop these programs to a position outside the field or on the bubble at best.
BYU Cougars
The No. 9 Cougars have now lost two of their last three games and are officially teetering on the edge of Big 12 title contention. Sure, Utah is No. 3 in the nation, but BYU fell to unranked UCF as the No. 2 team and then nearly (probably should have) lost to an unranked Arizona State. Quarterback Bear Bachmeier threw four interceptions against the Utes, causing any of his remaining positive stock to plummet.
BYU hasn't come close to passing the eye test over the last three weeks and that's evidence enough for the Selection Committee to doubt the team's viability as an at-large bid candidate. Utah leads the Big 12 pack now, with Texas Tech only a game behind. BYU now hangs with a pack that includes Arizona and Houston, both of which are considered hot risers in the latter half of the season. There's more reason to boost the Wildcats and the other Cougars at this point than BYU.
Ohio State Buckeyes
Pack it up; the Buckeyes are done for the year. That's a sentence that would've felt impossible to say just a month ago. Without starting quarterback Julian Sayin, this team is a shell of itself and Ryan Day is just helpless to do anything about it. Even with likely Heisman Trophy finalist Jeremiah Smith, freshman passer Luke Fahey is playing well under Big Ten standards and Day appears too skittish to start five-star recruit Tavien St. Clair. There's a real scenario in which Ohio State drops its remaining three games and finishes the year 6-6, which would be its worst campaign since 2011.
Three losses may not bury an SEC team — or even Ohio State if Sayin was healthy — from CFP contention, but the Buckeyes are going to get the 2023 Florida State treatment from here on out. Without a viable starting QB, Ohio State is just dead in the water and not worth forcing the brand into the 12-team field even if it finishes 9-3. It's a shame because now "The Game" against Michigan will be meaningless and the Buckeyes could finish unranked for the first time since 2001.
Miami Hurricanes
It doesn't matter if Miami was the No. 1 team and lost to the No. 11 team (who should've been ranked higher anyway), the Hurricanes had a cupcake schedule up until Saturday and cracked against a playoff-caliber opponent. No Malachi Toney? Okay, Notre Dame didn't have Leonard Moore. Darian Mensah had every opportunity to prove he's a Heisman Trophy finalist and came up short. The ACC is one of the most unserious conferences in college football this season; Wake Forest could be in the CFP.
The Hurricanes converted less than half of their third downs (6-for-14) and turned the ball over twice in South Bend. It was the team's first exposure to cold, Midwest weather this year and it clearly played a factor. Miami will still probably make the ACC title game, unlike its national title game run last year, but this team looks primed to fold in the first round to whichever SEC opponent it draws. Hosting a playoff game will be its only hope of avoiding a one-and-done conclusion to the season.
Kentucky Wildcats
Why in the world the Selection Committee thought Kentucky deserved a No. 6 ranking is beyond even the smartest analysts. Sure, the Wildcats topped ranked Texas A&M and LSU teams, but the former victory isn't that impressive anymore and they also lost to an Alabama team that isn't that good either but managed to vindicate itself by beating the Tigers on Saturday. Kentucky couldn't handle the pressure and fell victim to a Tennessee squad that felt insulted by its own No. 13 ranking.
At 7-2, Kentucky is not out of the race just yet, but it still faces Florida, Missouri and Louisville to end the season. With how chaotic the SEC has been this year, there's at least one more loss left in the cards for head coach Will Stein despite the impressive debut campaign. Don't expect to see the Wildcats make their CFP debut in 2026 unless all heck breaks loose and Danny Kannell's prediction of a four-loss SEC team being included in the bracket comes true.
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