Badgers up to sixth in playoff rankings

Then again, while there’s no evidence to support this, it just feels like at least one more major shakeup is on the horizon.

The latest College Football Playoff rankings are out, and the Gators have made a big jump.

The Washington Huskies moved up one spot to No. 5 in the most recent College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday afternoon.

The top four teams in the CFP rankings that day will play in the CFP semifinals on December 31 in Atlanta and Glendale, Ariz. They stayed behind Louisville, which fell to No. 11 from No. 5 after suffering its second loss of the season to Houston. Behind the Huskies this week are the Wisconsin Badgers. “Washington has two top-25 wins, but the strength of schedule is not there”. “At this point in time, MI at three, Clemson at four, Washington at five, there is a small separation between those teams there”.

The top four spots remained No. 1 Alabama (11-0), No. 2 Ohio State (9-1), No. 3 MI (10-1) and No. 4 Clemson (10-1), with the biggest development coming at No. 5. Imagine Alabama having to go through two of Clemson, Ohio State and MI to win the national championship. That scenario, though, depends on a few things, and one of them is that Washington loses, which would knock the Pac-12 out of the playoff.

Colorado vs. Utah: Colorado clinches the South with a win, and a chance to play their way in. The two teams sit at 10-1 and will face each other this weekend for the right to remain among the top four teams in the country. With Wisconsin, it wouldn’t be as hard: The Buckeyes won in Madison.

OHIO STATE OR MICHIGAN — The Big Ten behemoths won’t have any trouble this weekend.

Ohio State. The Buckeyes might very well finish the season with just one loss and not get in the conference title game, something that’s happened to them before. And Michigan State had its chances only down by seven heading into the fourth quarter before it realized it was Michigan State. A win there will make Washington 12-1 and the champion of a power conference.

In other words: The hypotheticals are intriguing, but they’re still hypotheticals.

Not anymore, and certainly not after a loss to Pitt two weeks ago.

This situation is similar to Wisconsin, and it depends on Ohio State beating MI (which is probable, since the game is at Ohio State). Of course, Louisville lost to a Houston team that Oklahoma also lost to. But all MI has to do is beat Ohio State and they are in no matter what.

Louisville’s loss was a nice boost for Washington, removing another possible obstacle. But a two-loss Ohio State would likely still have a better case than Oklahoma due to the fact that they would have the same record (provided Oklahoma beats Okie State) and a head-to-head win on OU’s home field.

“Our job is to win football games”, Helton said.

“We did discuss it this week, and it did not change our positioning in the rankings or within the selection committee room about Ohio State”, Hocutt said. The teams that Clemson cold potentially be playing such as Alabama and Ohio State are known for their ability to run the football.

If all three teams lose it would come down to the composite of four computer rankings between Navy and Temple and Navy would most likely host as the Mids have a significant lead on Temple in the computer rankings.

Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Joshua Dobbs (11) after the game against the Missouri Tigers at Neyland Stadium. The victor of the Colorado-Utah game will have implications on the South race.