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The 11 Teams Who Could Still Make College Football Playoff And How That Could Happen.

Ryan McCormick

As far as I can see it there are 11 teams who still have a realistic chance to make the college football playoffs, below are those teams as well as what needs to happen for them to make it. All rankings are based off of the latest College Football Playoff rankings as of 10/31/17.

1. Georgia- Georgia is in a good position, if they win out they are in. If for some reason they lose a regular season game and win the SEC by beating Alabama I think they still make it. If they lose a very close game to Alabama in the SEC championship (with that being their only loss) and the PAC12 and BIG12 doesn't have a better team or Notre Dame loses I think they still make it. Even if they lose to Alabama and have that win over ND I think ND might jump them since it was so early in the year and ND would have some good wins down the line.

2. Alabama - Pretty much the same as Georgia, win out, win the SEC with one loss or lose a close game to Georgia in the SEC championship with a couple of other things going right for them. The fact that they are Alabama will help if it gets close down the stretch.

3. Notre Dame- I think Notre Dame's only way to make it in is to win out. Since they don't have a conference championship a second loss would almost knock them out. They don't have an easy schedule from here on out but I think it is definitely winnable.

4. Clemson - I think Clemson needs to win out with an ACC championship victory. I don't think the ACC is strong enough to get a two loss team in unless some crazy things happen.

5. Oklahoma - At this point I don't think Oklahoma needs to win out, they still have Oklahoma State and then the Big12 Championship. I think they also need Notre Dame to lose and to have either Alabama or Georgia to lose convincingly in the SEC championship or another game before then.

6. Ohio state- This is a tough one, if Ohio State and Oklahoma win out I think Ohio State has a better resume but Oklahoma has the head to head win which I think gives them the nod. I think if any other team wins the Big 12 Ohio State would make it over them. Ohio State would also need a loss from Georgia or Alabama or a loss from Notre Dame. I think they could also get in with Oklahoma if Georgia or Alabama lose and Notre Dame loses.

7. Penn State - Penn State is basically in the same position as Ohio State, at this point they will need Ohio State to lose again to get a chance at the Big 10 championship, without that they probably don't have a shot.

8. TCU- TCU would need to win out with a Big12 Championship win, they would also need a loss from Notre Dame and big enough fall from Georgia or Alabama. I think they could also jump over Miami if they are a 1 loss ACC champion.

9. Wisconsin -Wisconsin actually has an easy path, going undefeated as a Big 10 Champ might be enough to get in, they will probably need 2 losses from the Big12 champ, the Pac12 champ, and Notre dame, or at least 2 of them.

10. Miami - I think Miami needs to go undefeated as an ACC champ, if they lose to Notre dame but finish as ACC champ with one loss they could sneak in with enough help from other teams losing, similar to Wisconsin's situation.

11. Oklahoma State - Oklahoma has a tough path but if they can finish with one loss as a Big12 Champ they could get in. They would need to have Notre Dame lose and one of the following (a 2 loss ACC champ, a 2 loss Big10 champ or 1 loss if Wisconsin wins it, Georgia or Alabama suffering a bad loss)

To me those are the only teams that have fairly straight forward and somewhat realistic paths to the playoffs, there are a few other teams that could sneak in there but they would need a lot to happen. To me those teams are Washington, Virginia Tech, Iowa State, Auburn, and Central Florida. It would be tough but they could see enough teams fall and have enough chances to prove themselves still left to make significant jumps in the polls.


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