The initial College Football Playoff rankings are out, and while many eyes are on the top of the rankings, it’s the bubble that matters most. Here, we break down the last four at-large teams in the top 12 and the the first four teams outside the College Football Playoff picture.
College Football Playoff Bubble Watch | Last Four Teams In
Tennessee Volunteers (No. 7)
Since the Boise State Broncos are in the top 12, the bubble starts one team earlier. It’s taken college football fans and media a while to catch up to the fact that just because this Tennessee team is different than past Josh Heupel teams does not mean it is worse. In fact, the Volunteers are faring well as a run-heavy, defensive team.
Indiana Hoosiers (No. 8)
The mystery of what the College Football Playoff committee would do with the Indiana Hoosiers is over, and they’re higher than many thought they’d be. Historically, non-traditional powers that start strong aren’t given high rankings, but the committee bucked that trend with Indiana. It seems that the nature of Indiana’s wins has helped it impress the committee. Of course, a Nov. 23 game at Ohio State will be huge, win or lose.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (No. 10)
Notre Dame has come on strong in recent weeks, and it seems that the strength of its wins has propelled it into the top 10. It also helps the Fighting Irish that the committee is high on Texas A&M.
Had the Aggies come in ranked lower, it’s possible it would have reflected poorly on the strength of Notre Dame’s opening-week win. The Fighting Irish have nice wins over the Aggies, Navy Midshipmen, and Louisville Cardinals, but there are very few chances to impress the committee going forward.
Alabama Crimson Tide (No.11)
There are a bunch of two-loss SEC teams, and I figured the committee would give one of them the nod as a way to hedge their bets. This will work itself out as the Alabama Crimson Tide play LSU on Saturday. The winner is likely in the top 12 next week, while the loser will fall off the bubble.
College Football Playoff Bubble Watch | First Four Teams Out
SMU Mustangs (No. 13)
While SMU is currently on the outside looking in, it controls its own destiny, as the Mustangs will almost certainly get a first-round bye if they win out, beating Miami in the ACC Championship. What this ranking doesn’t do is answer whether the Mustangs could make it as an at-large team with a loss in the conference championship.
If the Mustangs checked in inside the top 10, they’d probably be in, even with a future loss. If they were outside of the top 15, they’d need to win the conference to make it. As it stands, they’re in no man’s land.
Texas A&M Aggies (No. 14)
Texas A&M wasn’t dinged for a huge loss to South Carolina on Saturday, and they lead a trio of two-loss SEC teams with similar résumés. I wondered earlier how the committee would differentiate between those three teams, and it seems they just … didn’t.
Instead, they ranked them all together, giving the Aggies the nod over LSU after a home win over the Tigers and the Tigers the nod over Ole Miss after beating the Rebels in Baton Rouge, La.
LSU Tigers (No. 15)
As mentioned above, the LSU Tigers are a two-loss team with one of those losses being to the No. 14 Aggies. LSU’s loss to USC is getting worse by the week, which could be dragging it down. However, the Tigers will jump at least one spot this week if they can beat the No. 11 Crimson Tide.
Ole Miss Rebels (No.16)
Ole Miss, like LSU, has a bad loss to a Kentucky team that might not make a bowl. However, the Rebels also smashed a South Carolina team that just beat Texas A&M by 24. The Rebels, like most of the SEC teams, will probably make the playoff with two losses, but there are difficult games (also known as excellent opportunities) remaining on the schedule, headlined by a game with No. 3 Georgia on Saturday.
College Football Network has you covered with the latest from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, and every Group of Five conference and FBS Independent program.