The first College Football Playoff rankings will be unveiled on Tuesday. Many of the inclusions are obvious, and there are a few one-loss teams on the bubble. The lingering question between now and December 7th will be which teams with two losses will remain in the mix and possibly get into the field.
Week by week the list grows, and dwindles at the same time. There are numerous Power Four conference teams with two losses already that have virtually zero chance of making the final bracket, due to a weak strength of schedule and perhaps a lack of big time wins.
Which of these two-loss teams would make the cut right now?
Right Now, Notre Dame Has the Best Shot
Today, the most likely two-loss team to be included this week is Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish lost their first two games, to Texas A&M and Miami. Their best win is over fellow two-loss contender USC. With two-loss Miami slumping, the Irish will need some help in the final strength of schedule metric. Same goes for the Hurricanes, who are a downward spiral. Notre Dame has an easier path moving forward, and if Miami misses the ACC title game (right now they sit in 7th place in the conference) they donât have a chance for another attention-grabbing win.
IN: Notre Dame. OUT: Miami, Virginia, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Pitt.
Preseason number one Texas is suddenly back in the picture. With two losses, they need to win out and hope that Alabama and Georgia confine the damage of the SEC title game to themselves. A third loss, even in a title game, would eliminate the Longhorns, and they still have to play Georgia in two weeks and unbeaten Texas A&M in the finale. With Alabama and A&M appearing to be locks, the Longhorns would have to beat both Georgia and A&M to get in with two losses. It could happen.
IN: Texas, Georgia or Alabama. OUT: Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Missouri.
Could Michigan be the Fourth Big Ten Team?
If there is to be a fourth Big Ten team included, it will be either two-loss Michigan or two-loss USC. Should either or both slip up â and the Wolverines still have to play top-ranked Ohio State â theyâd be out. Iowa remains on the fringes, but a loss to the Trojans will end their faint hopes. Meanwhile, USC would need to win AT Oregon to stay in the hunt. Same with Washingtonâ¦at least they host the Ducks to close the season. The Wolverines could get in if they upset the Buckeyes yet again.
IN: Michigan. OUT: USC, Iowa, Washington.
The Big 12 gets no respect, right? Unbeaten BYU may have to stay that way â or win the Big 12 title game â to get in. one-loss Texas Tech is absolutely worthy, but if they donât beat BYU this weekend or win that title game, they may be left out as well. Then again, if they split and each has one loss at the end of the season, both could get in. Maybe. Meanwhile, two-loss Cincinnati might have a case if they stay that way.
OUT: Utah, Houston, Cincinnati.
The picture will become clearer in the coming weeks. The question is, how many teams will remain unbeaten or have just one loss that could push the two loss teams to the sidelines?
Stay tuned.
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Notre Dame Looking Good – The College Football Playoff Bracket and Which Two-loss Teams Will be Left on the Sidelines appeared first on Heavy Sports.