Penn State moves up in new College Football Playoff rankings

Two weeks later, Oklahoma plays host to Oklahoma State. MI and Clemson both managed to stay in the top 5 at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, but the two-loss Wisconsin Badgers leapt over the No. 7 Washington Huskies following their demolition of IL.

It is likely that at this point tomorrow, Tuesday, November 15th, the Big 10 will once again have two representatives owning a slot in the selection committee’s CFP rankings.

The weekend’s action threw the projection business into chaos with losses by the second-, third- and fourth-ranked teams in the CFP poll all falling in defeat. Because Ohio State lost at eighth-ranked Penn State, the Nittany Lions would win a tiebreaker for the Big Ten East if both finish 8-1 in the conference, shutting out the Buckeyes from the conference championship game.

Coming into Saturday, the playoff picture in college football was very cut and dry. Iowa doesn’t look almost as good as it did last season, but Kinnick Stadium is a tough place to play.

While Alabama is rightfully recognized as the consensus top team in the country, the Big 10 has placed four teams in the top 10. No such team has finished higher than seventh in the CFP rankings. At Nos. 20 and 21 are Boise Stateand Western Michigan, in a battle for a New Year’s Six bowl berth.

Others receiving votes: Houston 49, North Carolina 40, Virginia Tech 36, Tennessee 21, Navy 20, Stanford 16, W. Kentucky 11, Pittsburgh 9, South Florida 8, Arkansas 7, Iowa 4, MS 2, Minnesota 1.

As it stands, Alabama, the victor of MI vs. Ohio State, and Clemson seem to have the best shots of reaching the 2016 College Football Playoff. The Broncos should have no problem winning their last two games on their schedule.

And that brings us to this week’s opponent: Colorado, who checks in at No. 10 ahead of a ranked showdown in Boulder. If they can win out and win the Big 12, it will be hard to leave them out as a power five conference champion with only one loss.

Maybe it is unfair that Western Michigan probably won’t crack the top 10 even if they win out.

The current system will leave out at least three deserving teams.

Louisville and Washington fill in the fifth and sixth spots respectively.

College football in November has a tendency to throw a wrench in some teams playoff dreams, while lifting others that much closer to glory. While bureaucracy rarely gives us exactly what we want, we can at least state our case to put the pressure on them.