College Football Playoff Standings 11/3

The Run Down

Rankings Week 1

First Four

I really think the CFP committee hit the nail on the head with these top four. 

Clemson has clearly been playing the most consistently dominate football against a solid, but not great, strength of schedule. The wins over Notre Dame and Georgia Tech are really carrying good weight at this point and a win this weekend against Florida State could solidify that #1 ranking even further. I'm not sure if I see a spot left on Clemson's schedule for them to slip up. 

This weekend's LSU/ Alabama match up has massive implications for both teams chances to get into the playoff. If LSU wins, Alabama is staring down a two loss record with tough games at Miss. State and at Auburn coming up. Alabama really has a lot to lose in this game and they haven't looked very dominant so far. As for LSU, if they lose this game they lose control of their destiny in the SEC east and if Alabama doesn't lose another game they will end up out of the SEC championship. We have seen how important championship game weekend is and not playing in one could leave LSU on the outside looking in.

As for Ohio State, I think the committee placed them right where they deserve to be. This team still is composed of a majority of the players that beat Alabama and Oregon last season so the potential is there however, they haven't looked anywhere near expected. With the JT Barrett suspension coming at a bad time it'll be interesting to see where Ohio State ends up next week if they struggle again this weekend with Cardale under center.

Rest of the Top 10

Two teams that stick out right away in the top ten are TCU and Baylor. The committee has really shown that they aren't roused by 50-60 point games that don't include any defense. TCU has given up 37, 55, and 45 to SMU, Texas Tech, and Kansas State, respectively. That's not a championship defense and Baylor hasn't been much better with 31 to Lamar and 38 to West Virginia. Broken down simply, these teams play each other in the last game of the season and whoever loses that game is out of the playoff, regardless of record.

I think Notre Dame is in a very interesting position. Onto their third quarterback, after the transfer of Golson and loss of Zaire, they are still playing well as a team and showing the ability to win games late; a sign of a strong team. The key to their season will be the last game at Stanford. I don't expect Notre Dame to win that game but it could very well be whats holding them back from making the playoff

For all the talk of the Big Ten's old ways being out of date they still have three teams in the top 10. Iowa could very well, and will most likely will, end the season undefeated and in the top 7/8 with a date against the Big Ten East champ in the Big Ten Championship game. Michigan State has the talent to get into the playoff but so far this season I haven't seen that dominate factor that they showed last year. Every week that win over Oregon looks less impressive and ugly wins over Rutgers/Western Michigan/Air Force don't help.

Florida will almost certainly be in the SEC Championship game, most likely ranked around 7/8, however I don't expect them to win that game regardless of the opponent. That means their out.

Rest of the Top 25

Stanford and Utah at 11 and 12 are both heading toward a collision course. Regardless of Stanford's outcomes against Notre Dame they have a 3 game lead on the rest of their division and should make it into the Pac-10 championship against Utah who also has a solid lead. Stanford probably has the best leverage to get into the playoff if they can beat Notre Dame at home and Utah on a neutral site. 

I'm a bit surprised to see Memphis so high (13) but Paxton Lynch has shown he has all the requisite skills to lead his team to a stellar season. I'm tremendously looking forward to the 11/14 matchup between Memphis and Houston, which could be Memphis's best win on their schedule next to Ole Miss. If they can run the table they will be unbeaten with wins at home against Ole Miss, at Temple, and at Houston. Those are all solid top 25 teams; it might be tough to keep them out of the playoff if this scenario plays out

I expect Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, and Baylor to canalize each other and most likely end up with an undefeated or one loss TCU coming out of the Big 12 . The same goes for Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Texas A&M with none of those teams making the SEC championship