Week 12 was another week of college football chaos. November football eliminated some teams that were previously considered playoff contenders. The next edition of the CFP rankings will come out on Tuesday. Here are 5 teams that should not be in the committee’s top 25.
Louisville Cardinals
The Cardinals had so much hope heading into Week 11, but their Cinderella story ended quickly. The loss to California was coupled with a loss to unranked Clemson on Friday. The Cardinals now sit on the outside of the top 25 and the ACC championship. What will haunt Louisville fans the most is that their kicker wasn’t able to convert down the stretch.
Pittsburgh Panthers
Panthers fans might disagree here. Pittsburgh didn’t look like a top-25 team this week. Notre Dame absolutely dominated the game. If the Panthers want to make the ACC Championship, they have plenty of issues to work on.
South Florida Bulls
USF looked like the Group of 5 representative for most of the season. They were able to beat a ranked Florida team and hang out with Miami for a bit. Yet, now we look at their season, and it seems like it is over. The Navy ultimately proved to be the final knockout punch. The Bulls are pretty behind in the American Conference, and three losses for a Group-of-5 team should be plenty. Alex Golesh and his team will have to wait another year for a CFP birth.
Iowa Hawkeyes
The Hawkeyes stayed in last week’s top 25. They lost to Oregon at home, and yet they barely dropped. This week, they fell to USC, and their time has ultimately come. It is unlikely that the Hawkeyes will remain in the top 25 with four losses. The Hawkeyes’ sliver of hope for the playoffs is also gone with this week’s loss.
Cincinnati Bearcats
The Bearcats were actually one of the more popular picks to lose on Saturday. What did they do, you might ask? They lost to Arizona. They were barely hanging around at No. 25. This loss should bring a new team in. The Bearcats now have three losses and have work to do if they want to get back in the mix.
Bottom Line
The ACC’s presence on this list doesn’t do the conference any favors. If they are going to bring a playoff team into the picture, they could be fending off a James Madison or North Texas towards the end of the year. Contending for the playoffs at this time of year is all about winning, and everyone on this list has one thing in common: they didn’t win.
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