Clemson remains in College Football Playoff Top 4 despite loss

The committee went against the grain from both the Associated Press Top 25 and the Amway Coaches Poll, which both ranked Louisville No. 3 and Clemson No. 5, stirring the debate of the week. There are a couple of things, though, to keep our eye on as we move forward.

Louisville is No. 5 on my ballot, and since Ohio State and MI are still to play, the Cardinals would have a legitimate shot of making my final top 4. Clemson has a tough road game against Wake Forest followed by a home tilt against SC and then the ACC Championship Game.

When it was time to face the music for all of these teams, though, what did the selection committee ultimately decide?

Also, of the five teams now ranked ahead of UW, a maximum of three can win league titles.

Since Michigan and Ohio State will play each other this month, there is little chance that the rankings will remain static at the end of the season.

Here is a breakdown of Tuesday’s CFP rankings with each team’s path to the playoffs.

Alabama, now the nation’s lone unbeaten, power-conference team, remains at No. 1. Additionally, College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock is on record saying that conference titles will only be taken into consideration if two teams are close. Run the table and Alabama will be the No. 1 seed in the playoff and play a CFP semifinal in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. The Buckeyes beat Nebraska the week before at home by the same score, 62-3. MI was upended by Iowa on the road 14-13 as that game also ended on a last-second field goal.

You could have a coin flip of either UofL or MI in this spot. It appears the selection committee favors the Big Ten much more than the ACC, as it has two teams in the top four. The Wolverines control their own destiny, and by winning out they will have eliminated Ohio State one week and knocked out Wisconsin the next, and will have kept Penn State out of the Big Ten title game.

The third edition of the 2016 College Football Playoff rankings were released on Tuesday night.

Washington’s loss helps more directly, as the Huskies needed to lose a game for the two-loss Badgers to have a shot at finishing higher in the rankings. The only one-loss team in the conference, West Virginia, is now ranked at No. 14 – behind three-loss USC. Utah 8-2 807 13 12. Ohio State (9-1) 3.

This year’s legitimate contenders include two teams (Louisville and Ohio State) who might not even win their divisions. The best win on Western Michigan’s schedule might be Northwestern, who they beat 22-21 in the first week of season.

There was also a shuffling above Penn State as expected since last week’s No. 2 (Clemson), No. 3 (Michigan), and No. 4 (Washington) all lost, as well. Washington, which was fourth last week, slipped to No. 6 after a 26-13 loss to USC. 4 Washington, who dropped to No. 6. Their only loss comes at Clemson by a single score and they still looked impressive in that loss.