College Football Playoffs- 4 top teams lose

Another weekend of college football has come and gone and just like a hurricane, left a mess in its wake. In case you missed it, the No.’s 1, 3, 6, and 9 teams all lost, opening up a path for others and providing a great sample size for why this unpredictable sport is ever entertaining.

To recap: No. 1 Georgia was burned on the Plains, getting smoked by Auburn 40-17 while Miami put an equal beating on Notre Dame 41-8. TCU did their best Big 12 defense impersonation as they disappeared while Oklahoma notched another impressive victory on their resume. Washington essentially put on ice any hope the Pac-12 had of making the playoff with their loss to Stanford.

With the shakeup at the top, the committee had a shakeup of the Top-4, which was: Alabama, Clemson, Miami and Oklahoma with Wisconsin and Auburn right on the bubble. I don’t have much of an issue with the order of the top four, as the only argument that could be made is for Oklahoma to be higher, having three wins over the current Top-13 with two of those wins coming on the road.

As the season dwindles down to two regular season games remaining, the number of teams left with a chance at the playoff also takes a hit. After having nine teams alive last week, seven stand this week. While theoretically Ohio State and USC still have a minuscule chance if all hell breaks loose, the top seven teams are the only legitimate contenders remaining. Alabama has the toughest road left, traveling to Auburn for the Iron Bowl next Saturday and if they can get by, get the reward of playing Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. Clemson and Miami have a fairly easy two game stretch leading up to their clash in the ACC Championship Game. Oklahoma has a tricky game against West Virginia before a likely rematch against TCU in the renewed Big 12 Championship.

Auburn, who last week we highlighted could be the first two-loss team to crash the playoff, cleared the first of three hurdles to make that dream a reality. The Tigers host the Crimson Tide next week in hopes of beating their in-state rivals and forcing a rematch with the same Georgia team they flat out bullied last week. Wisconsin had an impressive win against Iowa and faces their toughest test of the season to date as Jim Harbaugh and Michigan look to be bad guys and spoil the Badgers’ playoff dreams. An undefeated Power-5 team has never been left out of the CFP, but an interesting decision could arise depending on how both the SEC and ACC championship games play out.

While this week is essentially a bye week for a lot of teams, the rankings shouldn’t change much, setting up an epic final week and conference championship weekend. So kick back, crack a few too many cold ones with the boys and watch many of the top teams beat some JV squads.