College Football Playoff Rankings: How The Top 25 Should Be Done, Top 20
20. Tulane Green Wave (8-1)
College Football Playoff Ranking, Week 1: 19
The Case For This Spot: Fiiiiiiine. It’s not like Tulane has been all that great against a mediocre slate, and it lost at home to Southern Miss. However, 8-1 overall and the road win over Kansas State are enough to be here. Now beat UCF.
Win That Matters: Tulane 17, Kansas State 10
Loss (or bad performance) That Matters: Southern Miss 27, Tulane 24
Up Next: UCF
19. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-3)
College Football Playoff Ranking, Week 1: Not Ranked
The Case For This Spot: So how do we do this? Do we just conveniently forget the home losses to Marshall and Stanford? There but for a few good offensive plays the Irish are 8-1 and deep in the playoff hunt, but that’s not how this works. However, three straight wins, handing North Carolina its only loss, and dropping Clemson by 24 should be enough to get into the top 20.
Win That Matters: Notre Dame 35, Clemson 14
Loss (or bad performance) That Matters: Marshall 26, Notre Dame 21
Up Next: Navy
18. Illinois Fighting Illini (7-2)
College Football Playoff Ranking, Week 1: 16
The Case For This Spot: This is so tough. The Illini have looked much, much better than Tulane and Florida State – the wins over Minnesota and Wisconsin were dominant – but the two losses to Indiana and Michigan State aren’t okay. And then there’s the bigger problem – is Iowa the biggest win so far? That’s hardly anything amazing.
Win That Matters: Illinois 34, Wisconsin 10
Loss (or bad performance) That Matters: Indiana 23, Illinois 20
Up Next: Purdue
17. Florida State Seminoles (6-3)
College Football Playoff Ranking, Week 1: Not Ranked
The Case For This Spot: Arguably the biggest whiff in the first round of the College Football Playoff rankings, three-loss Texas got in for doing a whole lot of nothing, and Florida State was left out. It’s time to remedy that, committee. The three losses Wake Forest, Clemson, and NC State are all okay, and the win over LSU now looks fantastic.
Win That Matters: Florida State 24, LSU 23
Loss (or bad performance) That Matters: Wake Forest 31, Florida State 21
Up Next: at Syracuse
16. NC State Wolfpack (7-2)
College Football Playoff Ranking, Week 1: 22
The Case For This Spot: The College Football Playoff committee underhanded the Wolfpack the first time around, and now they should make up for it. The win over Wake Forest should help, and beating Florida State and Texas Tech isn’t bad. The road losses to Clemson and Syracuse are acceptable enough to keep them from falling much lower than this.
Win That Matters: NC State 19, Florida State 17
Loss (or bad performance) That Matters: Syracuse 24, NC State 9
Up Next: Boston College
College Football Playoff: Helping The Committee With The Top 25
Top 4 | 6-10 | 11-15 | 16-20 | 21-25
Bowl Projections | CFN Rankings 1-131 | Rankings by Conference
AP Poll | Coaches Poll | Predicting CFP Top 25
Bowl Bubble: Bowl eligible teams, who needs a win?
Ranking the 12 teams realistically in the CFP hunt