Perhaps the best part of the new 12-team College Football Playoff era is the amount of teams that still have a chance to compete for a national championship here in late October.
In previous years, only seven or eight – maybe 10 in a high parity season – teams would still have even a tiny shred of a chance of making the CFP.
This season there are quite a few teams from every power conference with a chance of making the CFP, either by winning the regular season or earning one of the seven automatic bids – with one going to a Group of Five program.
Most current projections have two teams from the ACC making the College Football Playoff: The Miami Hurricanes and Clemson Tigers.
However, according to Blake Toppmeyer of USA TODAY, there are a pair of dark horse teams in the conference who are having strong enough seasons that – if the stars align just right – could end up competing in the inaugural 12-team CFP.
SMU Mustangs
SMU is 6-1 on the year and 3-0 in conference play with wins over Florida State, Louisville, and Stanford. The Mustangs also hung 66 points on in-state rival TCU, and their only loss was an 18-15 showdown against a BYU team that looks like a very strong candidate to make the College Football Playoff themselves.
With a tough road game at Duke (yes really) and matchups against Pitt, Boston College, and at Virginia left on the calendar, there is enough meat in the schedule for SMU to get a strong look for one of the at-large bids if they win out.
Pitt Panthers
Pitt is one of two undefeated teams remaining in the ACC, with Miami being the other. The Panthers are 6-0 on the year and 2-0 in ACC play, although the wins have come against bottom-feeders North Carolina and Cal.
However, Pitt, has a nice road win at Cincinnati and a win over West Virginia, and with plenty of chances still remaining on the schedule this team could make a push for a CFP spot. Syracuse at home is next, followed by SMU, Virginia, Clemson, Louisville, and Boston College.