College Football Playoff Chase Rankings Top 6
6. Clemson Tigers (9-1)
What Clemson has to do to make the College Football Playoff: Win the rest of the games, be 12-1, and get in. It might just be that simple.
Would a 12-1 ACC Champion get in over an 11-1 Tennessee? Flip a coin on that unless the Tigers are dominant against Miami, South Carolina, and in the ACC Championship over North Carolina.
Remaining Schedule: Miami, South Carolina, ACC Championship vs North Carolina
Will Clemson make the College Football Playoff? Yeah. At the end of the day, the College Football Playoff committee will – maybe – go with the Power Five conference champ over team that didn’t win its own division.
The Tigers might need the Tigers of LSU to lose, and it definitely needs USC to lose, but both of those things will probably happen. Our bowl projections? TCU doesn’t win the Big 12 title, USC loses, and the committee takes the three Power Five conference champs – Georgia and Big Ten champion – that went 12-1 or are unbeaten.
– College Football Playoff Top 25 Prediction
5. USC Trojans (9-1)
What USC has to do to make the College Football Playoff: Win out.
Don’t buy into the idea that USC would get passed over by an 11-1 Tennessee or an 11-1 Ohio State-Michigan loser, and don’t assume the committee would take a two-loss SEC champion LSU, either.
The committee has already spoken by putting USC at 8, and that’s before the tough part of the schedule.
If the Trojans can win at UCLA, beat Notre Dame, and take down whatever is there – Oregon or Utah – in the Pac-12 Championship, then it’s in over a 12-1 ACC champion, it’s in over a 12-1 TCU if it wins the Big 12 Championship – and loses before that – and it’s in over 11- 1 Tennessee …
Remaining Schedule: at UCLA, Notre Dame
Will USC make the College Football Playoff? Let’s just call it a maybe on 12-1 USC getting in over the Vols. The call is no, USC won’t make the College Football Playoff, and not because it doesn’t have the path. It’s because it’ll likely lose one of its last three games.