Griff's Playoff Projections: Week 11 Chaos

It started with Pitt's upset over Clemson. Then Southern Cal over Washington and Iowa over Michigan.

Chaos. Utter chaos.

Don't look now, but it seems like the only safe play to get in is Alabama. Even if the Crimson Tide loses to Auburn in the Iron Bowl, you'd have to give the Crimson Tide a mulligan at this point, right?

With three of the top four teams losing, does the Big 12 still have a shot of putting a team in?

Question, folks, surround this week's rankings, and it's hard to tell what this committee will do. I mean we all thought that it was pretty obvious what four teams were going to be "in" before the first week's rankings, and this committee still chose Texas A&M as the last team in. They did get it right last week, but which teams will round at the four this week?

As far as the unbeaten teams, we have two left in the entire FBS. There's not enough "MACtion" in the season to put one of those teams in the playoff, but Western Michigan will get its shot at a power five team come New Year's Day.

So, as the commercials say: "Who's in?"

 

 

6. West Virginia Mountaineers

 

Two weeks ago, there wasn't much hope for the Big 12's chances to get into the playoff. With the chaos that followed week 11, there's now a shot for the Big 12. That shot is West Virginia. The Mountaineers will have to take care of business this weekend against (11) Oklahoma. If West Virginia is able to do that, the Mountaineers will need to win out and win the Big 12 Championship to be legitimate contenders.

 

 

5. Michigan Wolverines

 

Jim Harbaugh's team is now on the outside looking in, but Michigan isn't out unless it loses another game or to Ohio State to finish the season. If the Wolverines win out and win the Big 10 Championship, then it will be right back in the top four.

 

 

 

4. Louisville Cardinals

 

 

Louisville and Ohio State both pulled for the Southern Cal upset over Washington, and both teams got way more than either could hope for. Each team tried to blow out opponents to boost up resumes. Louisville is in this fourth spot in my book because the Cardinals lost head-to-head against Clemson, but to the committee the No. 3 and No. 4 spots could be interchangeable. The Cardinals also would need to take care of business against remaining opponents Houston and Kentucky to punch a ticket into the playoff.

 

 

3. Clemson Tigers

 

The Tigers sure did pick a week to lose a regular season game for the first time since the 2014 season. A one-point loss to the Pitt Panthers started the shockwave that sent three of the top four teams to their first losses of the season. As explained above, I put Clemson in this spot because the Tigers defeated Louisville in the regular season. Clemson finishes out the regular season with another chance to clinch the ACC Atlantic against Wake Forest before its annual rivalry game against South Carolina. The Tigers will need to win these next two games and the ACC Championship to solidify its spot in the top four.

 

2. Ohio State Buckeyes

 

I've never witnessed the cycle of being upset to rising back into the ranks happen as quickly as Ohio State has done in the past month. Ohio State's path is pretty simple: keep blowing teams out and win in Ann Arbor.

 

1. Alabama Crimson Tide

 

Right now, the Crimson Tide have all but punched its ticket into the playoff. Alabama could lose against Auburn in the Iron Bowl and still win the SEC, which will be all it takes to land in the top four. The Auburn loss to Georgia gives the Tide the SEC West. Alabama's defense is legendary, and Nick Saban appears to have this team ready for any challenger.

 

So what will happen tonight remains unclear, but Alabama being the top-ranked team in the FBS is the only sure thing that we'll see from tonight's rankings. What do you think will happen? Be sure to tweet me your thoughts to @griffaldo.

 

As always, thanks for reading!