CFP Top 25: Stanford and Utah stay in top 15; Oregon and USC jump in
Four Pac-12 teams are in the latest College Football Playoff Top 25 rankings -- Stanford is No. 11, Utah is No. 13, Oregon is No. 23 and USC is No. 24. If the College Football Playoff started today, No. 1 Clemson would take on No. 4 Notre Dame in one semifinal, while the second-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide would face third-seeded Ohio State in the other.
People have been saying that the Pac-12’s chances of making the College Football Playoff are over. And while yes, that is likely the case, Stanford is the highest-ranked two-loss team in the nation, dropping just four spots to No. 11 after the heartbreaking loss to Oregon. Let’s take a glass-half-full view of things – No. 10 Baylor still has to play No. 6 Oklahoma State and No. 18 TCU (both on the road), No. 9 Michigan State plays at No. 3 Ohio State this weekend, No. 8 Florida will be a heavy underdog against No. 2 ‘Bama in the SEC title game (and also has to play No. 14 Florida State), No. 7 Oklahoma still has TCU and Oklahoma State, the sixth-ranked Cowboys have the aforementioned games against Boomer Sooner and Baylor, No. 5 Iowa still has to play at Nebraska (5-6 but a ton of close losses and beat Michigan State) and potentially the Big Ten Title game and No. 4 Notre Dame still has to come to The Farm. If Stanford goes 11-2, that’s three more wins against teams currently with winning records, and there are plenty of potential losses for the seven teams directly ahead of the Cardinal. As the little kid in Angels in the Outfield said, “Hey, it can happen!”
Utah is in a bit of a different scenario than the Cardinal despite being just two spots below the Pac-12 North side at No. 13 (a drop of three spots after the loss to Arizona in Tucson in double overtime). The third-highest-ranked two-loss team behind Stanford and Michigan, the Utes do have the fact that they beat the Wolverines going for them. However, the Utes need to win the Pac-12 Football Championship Game to give itself any sort of chance to get in the CFP mix, and as a result of the loss to the ‘Cats, they don’t control their own destiny to Santa Clara. Utah needs to beat UCLA and Colorado at home as well as have USC lose to either Oregon or UCLA in order to play on Dec. 5. If they can do that, there's a chance, but it’s not completely in their hands.
There’s no realistic scenario in which 15-20 teams in the top 20 lose twice, so you’re not going to see the Ducks play in the Final Four. But hey, it’s a testament to the Ducks’ perseverance and grit that they are in the CFP rankings at No. 23. The season looked to be all but over after losing to Washington State to fall to 3-3, but the Ducks have won four straight, most recently ruining Stanford’s mood with a 38-36 win on The Farm. Oregon is a Stanford loss to Cal away from controlling its own path to the Pac-12 Football Championship Game. A Pac-12 title for this group would be something else.
Like the Ducks, No. 24 USC isn’t going to play in the Final Four. But, like the Ducks, you gotta give it up to the Trojans for ripping off four in a row with an interim head coach and putting itself in position to play at Levi’s Stadium on Dec. 5. As long as the Trojans win out (tough games at Oregon and at home against UCLA), they will be playing their 13th game of the campaign before bowl season begins. Saturday’s game in Eugene will probably catapult the winner to the top 20 of next week’s CFP rankings.
Here’s the CFP Top 25 in full:
- Clemson
- Alabama
- Ohio State
- Notre Dame
- Iowa
- Oklahoma State
- Oklahoma
- Florida
- Michigan State
- Baylor
- Stanford
- Michigan
- Utah
- Florida State
- LSU
- Navy
- North Carolina
- TCU
- Houston
- Northwestern
- Memphis
- Ole Miss
- Oregon
- USC
- Wisconsin