1. Oregon isn’t necessarily safe at 4
The Mountain West trolled the Pac-12 for its lack of California teams ranked in the first CFP Top 25, and there’s an important point.
There weren’t any ranked Pac-12 teams other than Oregon.
Utah will probably be ranked at some point, but the Ducks don’t play anyone all that great the rest of the way – at Washington, Washington State, at Utah, Oregon State, and then whatever comes out of the Pac-12 South if they get to the Pac-12 Championship.
Ohio State? At Nebraska, Purdue, Michigan State, at Michigan, and then either Wisconsin (21) or Minnesota (20), or Iowa (22) in the Big Ten Championship, if everything works out.
The committee HAD to put Oregon ahead of Ohio State in these first rankings – it would’ve looked silly if it didn’t. However, that’s not set in stone the whole way.
If Oregon wins out, and if Ohio State wins out, and it comes down to one of those two to get in … don’t be so sure that this holds.
I think it should – respect the results, and the road win over Ohio State is the best victory by anyone this year, right next to Texas A&M winning at home over Alabama – but if the Buckeyes go on a tear and rip through everyone the rest of the way, and if Oregon limps along and keeps on struggling, keep in mind that this is about the “four best teams.”
The College Football Playoff committee might like the way Ohio State has progressed.
There’s another possible nightmare scenario for Oregon.
– Oklahoma is more than okay, even at 9
– The sneaky-interesting ranking was …
– Arkansas really is the the one big whiff
– Cincinnati at 6 is fine … really
– CFP Rankings: Reaction to every slot
– College Football Playoff Rankings
It wins out and is the 12-1 Pac-12 champion. Alabama and Georgia go 12-1, Oklahoma goes 13-0, and Michigan State beat Ohio State and goes on to win the Big Ten championship – finishing 13-0 or 12-1 – and …
Basically, Oregon, it’s style points time. Through these first rankings, the College Football Playoff committee just told you your Pac-12 schedule isn’t good enough. Winning impressively from here on matters.
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