Will Shipley, Clemson’s Tigers. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)
Here’s what the College Football Playoff rankings would have looked like if they were released after the Week 7 matches.
Even though we’re still a few weeks away from the College Football Playoff Selection Committee meeting for the first time this season, we might have an idea of where their heads might be after Week 7.
While the first official standings won’t be released until November 1, the final match picture is getting clearer by the week. With every team suffering a second loss, it is essentially eliminated. While the one-loss teams still had paths into the four-team realm, they would need Chaos to be on their side in the end. With two weeks left of data collection, these football rankings are a preview.
The AP Top 25 poll may be our guiding light for the next few weeks, but we’re all thinking about the playoff.
College Football Playoff Rankings after Week 7: Top two teams eliminated
6
Alabama scarlet tide
SEC (6-1)
Alabama is the best single losing team in the country, and it still controls its own destiny
Even though the Alabama Crimson Tide suffered a brutal first loss of the season to the Tennessee Volunteers, you’d be foolish to think they’re out of the deciding picture already. No, it wouldn’t be easy for Crimson Tide to get to four, but if they win, they come in second or third. It comes down to how well they played in Mississippi schools.
Mississippi State suffered another loss this year to rival Kentucky across the divisions, so the Bulldogs aren’t making the playoff. While the Ole Miss remains undefeated, the Rebels can technically afford to lose their land to Alabama and still be able to enter. Crimson Tide needs to win to finish the regular season at 11-1 (7-1) and then beat anyone out of the East SEC to get in.
Although there is no margin for error, Alabama benefits from skepticism by playing for the Securities and Exchange Commission.
5
Clemson is back in being Clemson, but the ACC may crash again this season
Even after their star coordinators lost to the Power Five their gigs, Dabo Swinney’s Clemson Tigers look like the ACC powerhouse they’ve been for the better part of the decade. The Tigers 7-0 with major ACC Atlantic victories over Wake Forest, North Carolina and now Florida. If they defeat undefeated Syracuse at home in Week 8, Clemson is Charlotte’s Lock.
However, the ACC Coastal is somewhat anonymous this season. The Tigers will be lucky to have a second game left against a ranked opponent outside Syracuse. Although they play the playoff as the undefeated champion of the Power Five, their regular season loss leaves that up for debate. If they are going to lose the title match to say North Carolina, there are no guarantees that they will get it.
Clemson needs Syracuse to stay strong and for North Carolina to start moving forward.
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