Well the games after the first College Football Playoff rankings were released were always going to be chaotic. As anticipated, a top 10 team went and lost yet again this season after BYU was a no-show in Lubbock. Texas Tech strengthened its grip on the Big 12 and now with a three-way tie for first, complicated a championship game picture.
As for Indiana, Fernando Mendoza delivered the Heisman moment he needed to give him the edge over Ty Simpson and Julian Sayin and Oregon needed a late field goal to survive a wet one against Iowa. Just your usual excitement and time of the season. With all the losses and wins, there’s a lot of shuffling to do in the College Football Playoff field.
Indiana, Ohio State, Texas A&M and Alabama are still locked in as the top four seeds, but here’s what the rest of the field might look like ahead of the second College Football Playoff rankings.
Projected College Football Playoff field ahead of second released rankings
- Ohio State Buckeyes*
- Indiana Hoosiers
- Texas A&M Aggies*
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Texas Tech Red Raiders*
- Oregon Ducks
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Texas Longhorns
- Miami Hurricanes*
- South Florida Bulls*
*Notates projected conference champion
Not much gets shuffled around, though Memphis loss means another Group of Six team gets in contention. There’s quite a few teams that are vying for the lone G6 bid, but I think South Florida has the edge right now. That loss to Memphis is hurting them, but Memphis’ loss opens the door for them to get into the American title game. The G6 spot will come down to the Bulls, Tulane, James Madison, possibly San Diego State and potentially Memphis.
As for the rest of the field, the biggest difference is BYU is no longer in the field and Texas takes their spot, coming in at the No. 10 seed. They ultimately were given a boost after taking down Vanderbilt and with an opening and the head-to-head win over Oklahoma, they get in for now. And Miami is now the new representative for the ACC after Virginia and Louisville were handed losses on Saturday night.
Miami might just be the ACC’s only hope of getting into CFP
The Miami Hurricanes just might be the ACC’s best chance at getting into the CFP. The Hurricanes, though they’re on the outskirts of the CFP race, might just sneak into the title game and be able to get in. Virginia and Louisville were handed horrible losses to Wake Forest and California, respectively. That should just about end their CFP hopes. Louisville has an outside chance, but I don’t think they can beat Miami again.
Georgia Tech is kind of in that same boat, which leaves Miami as the conference's only hope. Don’t get it twisted, they had some bad losses this year, but they’re the only team that you should be confident in, unfortunately. Virginia and Louisville proved just how flawed and weak the ACC is and it’s only a matter of time before Georgia Tech follows suit.
Are Oregon, Indiana scares a red flag or a one off?
Both Oregon and Indiana needed last second scores to avoid upset losses on Saturday. Oregon needed a field goal with less than 30 seconds left in the game to get past Iowa and avoid its second loss of the season, while Mendoza needed a game-winning drive to get a touchdown and avoid a loss to Penn State.
That said, it’s fair to think those are red flags for both teams. For Indiana, they showed through adversity they can still rise to the occasion. While they had to go the length of the field, Mendoza got into a rhythm and didn’t really look like a team that wasn’t going to find a way to win. I think it’s less of a red flag and more of a team that, even when uncomfortable, they aren’t fazed.
The Oregon game was a similar situation. It was an odd game that not only had weather involved, but a different type of offensive game than Oregon’s used to. They had to grind out a road win against Iowa and proved they can handle adversity as well. It shows they learned from failing to close out the Indiana game.