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This week’s College Football Playoff rankings are out, led again by Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M and Georgia.
Based on tonight’s rankings, these would be the first-round matchups:
And these would be the quarterfinal matchups:
Share your views by emailing us at live@theathletic.com and check out The Athletic’s live schedule this week
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College Football Playoff rankings revealed: The 30 teams still alive for a spot in the bracket
North Texas, Tulane, Navy, South Florida, East Carolina.
The winner of the American is probably getting into the Playoff as the fifth-highest-ranked conference champion, and these are the teams still alive to play for the title.
In play for an at large: None.
San Diego State, UNLV
We’re going to give the Mountain West teams with a chance to win the league at 11-2 a slim chance to have a bid fall to them if all hell breaks loose in the American and Sun Belt.
In play for an at large: None.
Notre Dame
The Irish can’t lose to woeful Stanford this weekend and expect to get in and are probably a little less than the lock to make the field if they do run their winning streak to 10 games. Notre Dame is among several teams this weekend that should be rooting against Michigan and Georgia Tech to clutter the picture.
Texas Tech, BYU, Utah and Arizona State
In play for an at-large: Texas Tech, BYU and Utah. We’re giving the Utes all the benefit of the doubt, but it will probably take about five significant upsets to get them in as an at-large.
Probably in no matter what happens this weekend: Texas Tech. A Big 12 title game matching 11-1 Texas Tech and 11-1 BYU — a strong possibility — absolutely sets up the conference to get two teams in, but the Cougars would be living on the bubble.
Virginia, SMU, Pitt, Georgia Tech, Miami, Duke
Wait, Duke? The Blue Devils are 6-5 but 5-2 in the ACC, and with a victory over Wake Forest on Saturday and a few upsets in front of them, Duke can tiebreaker its way into the conference title game. A Duke ACC championship would open up a debate that James Madison (10-1) and its fans are dying to have — assuming the Dukes win out.
In play for an at-large: Miami, Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets would have to beat Georgia to force their way into the discussion.
Probably in no matter what happens this weekend: None.
Ohio State, Indiana, Oregon, Michigan
In play for an at-large: All of the above. Michigan beating Ohio State changes everything about the Wolverines’ good-but-far-from-excellent season.
Probably in no matter what happens this weekend: Ohio State, Indiana. The Ducks would be best off avoiding falling into a crowd of 10-2 teams that could include six from the SEC and both Big 12 title game participants.
I can understand the argument that Notre Dame is ahead of Miami based on the eye test and using advanced metrics to back that up. But it does start to unravel a bit for me when people start comparing how the two teams performed against common opponents. Considering how both teams played against Syracuse or Pitt in different weeks of the season only serves to remind me of how Miami played against Notre Dame.
Texas A&M, Georgia, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Alabama, Vanderbilt, Texas
In play for an at-large: All of the above. We can feel your anger reading this, non-SEC fans.
Probably in no matter what happens this weekend: Texas A&M, Georgia. Here’s the flip side of the above. Only the Aggies and probably the Bulldogs can rest easy heading into Selection Sunday if they get upset this weekend. The rest play their way onto the bubble, if not simply out, if they trip up this weekend. As for Texas, which can do no better than 9-3 even with a win against Texas A&M, the Longhorns would still need help to have a good case to receive a bid.
Based on the rankings tonight, these would be the quarterfinal matchups:
If the rankings tonight set the pairings, these would be the first-round pairings:
Here is a look at the top 12 this week:
