On Tuesday night, the first set of College Football Playoff rankings came out. However, they are only for show.
Some joking and fist-shaking happen, but what the heck. The committee is going through the steps to show everyone where each top college football team stands. But the final top 25 that comes out after the conference championships is all that matters.
There are really 30 teams that could get one of the 12 spots. Which teams are still in the game and which ones are out?
College Football Playoff teams realistically still alive
This is how it works. The 30 teams are NOT ranked in order of how good they are. This is how likely each team is to make it into the new College Football Playoff.
Based on the teams’ current records, the games they still have to play, and how good they are. There are a lot of Group of Five teams stacked up, but not all of them will be able to make it.
There is, however, a chance that Boise State could lose the Mountain West title game and the other teams will get a bid if the top team from the Group of Five conferences does.
Teams are higher in this if there is a good chance they will play in at least one conference championship. For example, if you win the Power 4 title, you automatically get a bid. Scroll down to see the teams that are not likely to make it to the CFP.
30. Syracuse (6-2)
29. Louisville (6-3)
28. Arizona State (6-2)
27. Memphis (7-2)
26. Colorado (6-2)
25. Missouri (6-2)
24. Louisiana (7-1)
23. Texas A&M (7-2)
22. Pitt (7-1)
21. Ole Miss (7-2)
20. Washington State (7-1)
19. LSU (6-2)
18. Alabama (6-2)
17. Kansas State (7-2)
16. Army (8-0)
15. Clemson (6-2)
14. Indiana (9-0)
13. Tulane (7-2)
12. UNLV (6-2)
11. SMU (8-1)
10. Iowa State (7-1)
9. BYU (8-0)
8. Boise State (7-1)
7. Texas (7-1)
6. Notre Dame (7-1)
5. Miami (9-0)
4. Penn State (7-1)
3. Georgia (7-1)
2. Ohio State (7-1)
1. Oregon (9-0)
Finished. It’s over. Let’s go take a steam …
These are the teams that are not likely to make it to the College Football Playoff. Some people might have a crazy outside chance if a million things go their way, but I do not think so.
ACC
Boston College, Cal, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, NC State, North Carolina, Stanford, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
American Athletic Conference
Charlotte, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Navy, North Texas, Temple, Tulsa, UAB, USF, UTSA
Big Ten
Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, UCLA, USC, Washington
Big 12
Arizona, Baylor, Cincinnati, Houston, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, TCU, UCF, Utah, West Virginia
Conference USA
(Realistically, no CUSA team will be in the College Football Playoff mix, so all ten teams are here.) FIU, Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State, Liberty, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, New Mexico State, Sam Houston, UTEP, WKU
Independents & Pac-12
Oregon State, UConn, UMass
MAC
(Realistically, no MAC team will be in the College Football Playoff mix, so all 12 teams are here.) Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami University, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Toledo, Western Michigan
Mountain West
Air Force, Colorado State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, San Diego State, San Jose State, Utah State, Wyoming
SEC
Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Vanderbilt
Sun Belt
Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Jacksonville State, Marshall, Old Dominion, South Alabama, Southern Miss, Texas State, Troy, ULM