15. Cincinnati Bearcats (6-0)
Cincinnati is in the College Football Playoff if … it goes 13-0 without even a hint of a blip. It would also be a big plus if Notre Dame ran the table, and everything around the rest of the college football world has to melt down a bit. The ranking is this low because 1) the schedule is WAY soft and 2) the Bearcats need some help.
The rankings here are based on control in the College Football Playoff chase, and Cincinnati still needs help no matter how good it is.
It’s all going to go wrong against … it’s not. However, if it does, it might be against SMU late in the season, and watch out for a trip to East Carolina against a program with an offense that’s been known to rise up and rock the it gets a chance to screw someone up. Even then, if Houston gets to the AAC Championship, that could be dangerous.
Will Cincinnati get into the College Football Playoff? Yeah – the guess is that the chips will all fall into place.
The problem really is the schedule – there’s nothing worthy of making the College Football Playoff. One win over Notre Dame, beating a mediocre Indiana, and a possible win over SMU isn’t going to be enough, but the Bearcats should still get in.
If an unbeaten Georgia beats Alabama, then Bama is out – probably.
If Oregon loses once more, the Pac-12 is out, and the ACC is almost certainly going to beat itself up on the way to a two-loss champion.
Let’s say Georgia, a Big Ten champion, and a one-loss or unbeaten Big 12 champ are in. 13-0 Cincinnati takes the fourth spot.
Ranking the teams alive for the College Football Playoff
UTSA | San Diego State | Coastal Carolina
SMU | Texas A&M | Auburn | Ole Miss
Notre Dame | Kentucky | Cincinnati
Baylor | Pitt | NC State | Wake Forest
Ohio State | Oregon | Penn State | Iowa
Michigan State | Oklahoma St | Michigan
Alabama | Oklahoma | Georgia
Bowl Projections | CFN Rankings