Whew, top-10 teams just can’t seem to stay ranked this season. Vanderbilt ascended all the way to No. 9 this week only to suffer its second loss of the year and Miami was handed yet another loss, falling to unranked SMU on Saturday. With those two results, the AP top 25 rankings are going to once again get a massive reshuffle as the first unofficial College Football Playoff rankings are right around the corner.
The Commodores were sent back to Earth after running into a determined Texas team in Austin on Saturday, and with the loss, Diego Pavia’s dark horse Heisman campaign faded as well. Can the Commodores recover and still reach the CFP? I guess that will be up to the selection committee this week. Either way, Vandy's path just got a little bit tougher with the SEC title game nearly out of reach.
As for Miami and Houston, well, it proved just how inferior the ACC and Big 12 are to the SEC. Both conferences are fighting to be multi-bid leagues in the College Football Playoff. Miami proved that the ACC doesn’t deserve more than its conference champion to get into the CFP, and Houston proved that this is a three-horse race between Cincinnati, Texas Tech and BYU for the Big 12 crown.
Projected rankings ahead of first College Football Playoff rankings
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Indiana Hoosiers
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Oregon Ducks
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
- BYU Cougars
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Texas Tech Red Raiders
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Virginia Cavaliers
- Louisville Cardinals
- Cincinnati Bearcats
- Texas Longhorns
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Vanderbilt Commodores
- Missouri Tigers
- Michigan Wolverines
- USC Trojans
- Utah Utes
- Memphis Tigers
- Tulane Green Wave
- Washington Huskies
Miami, Houston both out of AP top 25 after unranked, conference losses
Miami could survive the week still being ranked, but I just have a hard time believing that when both of the Hurricanes’ losses were to unranked teams – though Louisville is now ranked, it wasn’t when it beat Miami. The ACC already has three other teams ranked in the poll, and with Miami now on the outside of the ACC title game picture, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them fall out entirely.
As for Houston, it was a brief, one-week appearance for the Cougars in the AP top 25. A loss to this West Virginia team is bad and it will probably be the last time we see the Cougars ranked this season. Houston was having a solid year, and Willie Fritz is building something noteworthy, but now that they basically fall out of contention for the Big 12 championship game, there is no need for them to float around the bottom of the rankings.
Vanderbilt still alive in CFP race in crowded SEC field
The SEC and the Big Ten will probably have the most teams from each conference get into the CFP, as per usual. That said, the question is which SEC teams will get the nod over the others and Vanderbilt, though most likely facing a big drop, still has a compelling argument. Both of their losses are on the road and ranked losses at that. You can’t fault them heavily for that, and they also have some strong wins.
I don’t know if they can do enough to crack the CFP field; they would need to win out and finish with a win over Tennessee to strengthen their resume to have a solid shot. Pavia might not be able to win the Heisman now, but he can still put himself in a class of his own in Vandy lore if he takes the doormats of the SEC to the CFP.