When the College Football Playoff debuted back in 2014, “Who’s In?” was its marketing slogan.
They even had a cheesy commercial featuring Jimmy Kimmel singing at a New Year’s College Football Playoff party with a number of actors wearing various team apparel, including USC and UCLA. Ironically, neither school has ever been in the College Football Playoff.
Years later, the "Who’s In?" question remains relevant. So, after Tuesday’s latest rankings … who exactly is in?
First, here's Tuesday’s rankings:
1. Oregon, 2. Ohio State, 3. Texas, 4. Penn State, 5. Notre Dame, 6. Miami, 7. Georgia, 8. Tennessee, 9. SMU, 10. Indiana, 11. Boise State, 12. Clemson, 13. Alabama, 14. Ole Miss, 15. South Carolina, 16. Arizona State, 17. Tulane, 18. Iowa State, 19. BYU, 20. Texas A&M, 21. Missouri, 22. UNLV, 23. Illinois, 24. Kansas State, 25. Colorado.
Nothing, of course, is official until the final rankings are announced on Dec. 8, but Tuesday’s rankings provided a blueprint on who will make the inaugural 12-team playoff. Of the 12 spots, 10 teams will lock up a bid simply by winning this week.
The 10 that are in with a win this weekend:
- Oregon vs. Washington (6-5)
- Ohio State vs. Michigan (6-5)
- Texas at Texas A&M (8-3)
- Penn State vs. Maryland (4-7)
- Notre Dame at USC (6-5)
- Miami at Syracuse (8-3)
- Georgia vs. Georgia Tech (7-4)
- Tennessee at Vanderbilt (6-5)
- SMU vs. Cal (6-5)
- Indiana vs. Purdue (1-10)
These 10 are in — even if they win this weekend and lose their respective conference title games.
The beauty of this college football season is the teams that are favored to win, as all of the above teams are this weekend, don’t always win.
Any losses by the top 10 teams will open the door for the following teams, as long as they win their regular-season finale. None of these teams necessarily are guaranteed a bid with a win, but you’re saying there’s a chance?
- Clemson vs. South Carolina (8-3)
- Alabama vs. Auburn (5-6)
- Ole Miss at Mississippi State (2-9)
- South Carolina at Clemson (9-2)
I did not include No. 11 Boise State in these scenarios, since the Broncos would receive an automatic bid if they win the Mountain West title.
The playoff hopes for the top 10 teams are fairly cut and dried. For teams ranked from Nos. 12-15, it’s fairly simple: win and get some help.
And then there’s the Big 12. Five league teams — No. 16 Arizona State, No. 18 Iowa State, No. 19 BYU, No. 24 Kansas State and No. 25 Colorado — are jumbled together at the bottom of the rankings.
One of those five is most likely to emerge as the Big 12 champion, although unranked Baylor, Texas Tech and West Virginia are mathematically alive.
Some people actually believe that No. 17 Tulane could rank higher than the Big 12 champion. That simply will not happen. Tulane lost to Kansas State and what will likely be a 6-6 Oklahoma team in the nonconference.
The Green Wave close with unranked Memphis and then unranked Army in the AAC title game. Without any ranked wins, Tulane would get jumped by the Big 12 champion, especially if the Big 12 title game is a matchup between ranked teams.
That’s "Who’s In." At least for this week.
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