College Football Playoff Rankings: How The Top 25 Should Be Done, Top 15
15. North Carolina Tar Heels (8-1)
College Football Playoff Ranking, Week 1: 17
The Case For This Spot: 8-1 is still 8-1. Don’t be shocked if the Tar Heels have the puck on their stick at 11-1 going into the ACC Championship with a shot at becoming a one-loss Power Five conference champ. Do that, and they’ll be deep in the College Football Playoff consideration. For now, though, the best win is against Duke. There needs to be more meat on the resumé bone.
Win That Matters: North Carolina 42, Pitt 24
Loss (or bad performance) That Matters: Notre Dame 45, North Carolina 32
Up Next: at Wake Forest
14. Penn State Nittany Lions (7-2)
College Football Playoff Ranking, Week 1: 15
The Case For This Spot: Knowing how the College Football Playoff committee rolls, big wins mean more than acceptable losses. Penn State has two more than acceptable losses – Ohio State and Michigan – but there aren’t any big wins. No, Minnesota doesn’t really count.
Win That Matters: Penn State 41, Auburn 12
Loss (or bad performance) That Matters: Michigan 41, Penn State 17
Up Next: Maryland
13. Clemson Tigers (8-1)
College Football Playoff Ranking, Week 1: 14
The Case For This Spot: The loss at Notre Dame was UGLY – no, that’s not how everyone tries to pronounce Uiagalelei – but don’t overreact quite yet. The win over Wake Forest, NC State, Florida State, and Syracuse are all good enough to keep the Tigers in this. The belief still holds – go 12-1, win your Power Five conference championship, and get in. Clemson can still do that.
Win That Matters: Clemson 51, Wake Forest 45
Loss (or bad performance) That Matters: Notre Dame 35, Clemson 14
Up Next: Louisville
12. Utah Utes (7-2)
College Football Playoff Ranking, Week 1: 14
The Case For This Spot: A very reasonable case could be made that Utah deserves to be ranked in the top ten. The loss on the road at Florida was every bit as strong as LSU losing to Florida State, and giving USC its first and only loss might actually be better right now than beating Alabama. The loss at UCLA is better than LSU getting rocked by Tennessee, but for now, moving up a few spots is fine.
Win That Matters: Utah 43, USC 42
Loss (or bad performance) That Matters: Florida 29, Utah 26
Up Next: Arizona
11. Ole Miss Tigers (8-1)
College Football Playoff Ranking, Week 1: 11
The Case For This Spot: There’s no reason to mess around with the No. 11 spot for now. The 45-20 loss to LSU was a problem, and there isn’t a strong enough win on the resumé – maybe Kentucky – to go any higher. Beat Alabama this week, and then this gets fun.
Win That Matters: Ole Miss 22, Kentucky 19
Loss (or bad performance) That Matters: LSU 45, Ole Miss 20
Up Next: at Alabama
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
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