College Football Playoff: The 31 teams who still have a chance to make the field

The College Football Playoff committee is set to reveal its first rankings on Tuesday, November 5.

Before seeing how the people who make the 12-team bracket feel about the teams, we have to ask which programs are still in the hunt. It’s a heck of a lot more than would still be alive at this point in the season during the four-team era.

Here’s a complete inventory of the 31 teams still technically alive to compete for the national championship.

Big Ten

Oregon: With a perfect 8-0 record and win over Ohio State, Oregon has a manageable schedule down the stretch. The Ducks play Michigan, Maryland, Wisconsin and Washington in the regular season before presumably advancing to the Big Ten title game. The Ducks feel like the only remaining team in the Big Ten that’s basically guaranteed to make the Playoff. 

Indiana: Indiana has been very good this year, but we’ll get a taste of how good the Hoosiers are on Nov. 23 when it travels to Ohio State. Even with a loss to Ohio State, the Hoosiers have a real shot at being at least an 11-1 team in the Big Ten. That should get Indiana into the field.

Penn State: The Nittany Lions are 8-0 and hosting Ohio State this weekend. Even if Penn State loses at home to the Buckeyes, it doesn’t play Indiana or Oregon in the regular season. Penn State can basically guarantee itself a spot in the Playoff with a win over the Buckeyes. If it loses, they’re still very much alive.

Ohio State: Ohio State’s only loss was a thriller at Oregon. Most tend to think even if Ohio State loses to Penn State on Saturday that it’ll make the Playoff, but it would be time for the Buckeyes to sweat. Funny enough, beating Indiana later in the month could give Ohio State the quality win it needs to make the field as a 10-2 team.

Illinois: The Illini are going to need all sorts of chaos to get in. It feels like it is probably dead at the moment, but there’s a slim chance a 10-2 Big Ten team could wiggle its way into the field if a bunch of weird losses start racking up. Illinois is 6-2 and has lost to Penn State and Oregon, but its remaining games are against a surging Minnesota, Michigan State, Rutgers and Northwestern. The Illini have beaten Kansas, Nebraska and Michigan, which looks more impressive than it actually is.

SEC

Texas A&M: The Aggies are the only team remaining unbeaten in SEC play. At 7-1 with a loss to Notre Dame, Texas A&M will be favored in every game up until it hosts Texas in its season-finale. With wins over Missouri and LSU, the Aggies could still crack the field at 10-2. 

Georgia: Georgia is now the clear favorite to win the SEC after it completely dominated Texas on national television. The Bulldogs did lose to Alabama — a blemish that isn’t aging well — but they still look like the scariest team in college football. At 6-1, Georgia may own the best win in college football with Ole Miss and Tennessee still looming on its schedule.

Texas: For most of the season, Texas looked like the best team in the sport. Then the Georgia game happened. Still, the Longhorns only have one loss and control their destiny in the SEC race. If it loses to Texas A&M at the end of the season, Texas may have to sweat it out. Where is the Longhorns’ quality win if that happens?

Tennessee: Tennessee has looked like a national championship-caliber team this year. It has also lost to Arkansas. Sitting at 6-1, the Volunteers still have a big game at Georgia on its schedule on Nov. 16. Even if Tennessee loses, it still could be in a great spot in the Playoff race because it beat Alabama.

LSU: After getting blown off the field in the second half at Texas A&M on Saturday, most people have closed the book on the Tigers. But LSU still only has one loss in SEC play and has an opportunity to reassert itself as one of the best teams in the conference when Alabama comes to town on Nov. 9. LSU has to win that game to stay in the hunt.

Alabama: It’s so odd to see Alabama with two losses before November, but here we are in the post-Nick Saban era. Alabama, rightfully, has fallen out of the national championship discourse. But if the Crimson Tide win the rest of their games — including a road game at LSU — it will have the best resume of any two-loss team in the country. Beating Georgia and getting to 10 wins in the SEC is going to get Alabama into the Playoff.

Ole Miss: Mississippi went all-in on upgrading its roster this season when it saw the returning talent and peeped the 2024 schedule. Mississippi has been a disappointment — suffering two losses before November — but it still plays Georgia and could finish the regular season at 10-2 if it somehow beats the Bulldogs. That’s a Playoff resume.

Missouri: The good news? The Tigers are 6-2. The bad news? They have been blown out by Texas A&M and Alabama, the only two really good teams they have faced all season. It would take all sorts of chaos for Missouri to climb its way back into the picture, but I’m not ready to eliminate an SEC team that has a chance to go 10-2 on the year.

Florida: Don’t laugh. Look at Florida’s schedule. If the Gators win the rest of their games, they’d finish the regular season 9-3 with wins over Georgia, Texas, LSU and Ole Miss before likely going to the SEC Championship Game. That’s not likely to happen, but you can’t say Florida is dead right now.

Vanderbilt: The Commodores have three losses. You’d think that would keep them out. But Vanderbilt has an ace up its sleeve with the Alabama win, especially if the Crimson Tide win out. Vanderbilt still has to finish its regular season with back-to-back games against Tennessee and LSU. If Vanderbilt wins them both and Alabama also wins out, the Commodores would be in the discussion at 9-3.

Big 12

BYU: The Cougars are 8-0 on the year and own wins over SMU and Kansas State. It may be tough for two Big 12 teams to crack the field this year, but BYU controls its destiny for one of the guaranteed spots. Quarterback Jake Retzlaff has been electric.

Iowa State: Iowa State is also 8-0, but its resume isn’t as impressive as BYU’s. That doesn’t matter. Iowa State also controls its destiny in the Big 12 race. If the Cyclones win the rest of their games — which includes a regular-season finale against Kansas State — and go on two in the conference, it’ll capture one of the top four seeds in the Playoff.

Kansas State: When Kansas State lost to BYU 38-9, it took a lot of people by surprise. That loss looks much better now. Since then, it has won four straight games, including wins over Oklahoma State and Colorado. Its next three games are against Houston, Arizona State and Cincinnati, so it is setting up a regular-season finale against Iowa State that could be a College Football Playoff game. Kansas State controls its destiny to win the conference.

Colorado: You may have forgotten about Colorado after it got blown out by Nebraska, but the Buffaloes are playing really well right now. Yes, they lost a heartbreaker to Kansas State, too, but Travis Hunter came out of that game with an injury. The Buffaloes are 6-2 in the Big 12 and are still alive in the conference race. It may need a little help, but there is no team it can’t beat in the last four games of the regular season. Colorado could get to 10-2 and the Big 12 title game.

ACC

Clemson: The Tigers began the year with a blowout loss to Georgia on a neutral field. Clemson hasn’t lost again since. Clemson doesn’t have a marquee win on its resume, but it seems like a virtual lock to make the ACC Championship Game.

Miami: Miami could have lost a few times, but it has won games it would have lost in the path on the way to 8-0. Now the remainder of its regular-season games look like blowouts up until the season-finale against Syracuse. Miami and Clemson seem to be on a collision course in the ACC title game.

SMU: Many have forgotten about the Mustangs after they almost lost to Nevada to begin the season and dropped a close game to BYU in week three. That loss looks much better now and SMU, which has yet to lose in ACC play, has won five-straight. Things get tricky in the ACC because SMU doesn’t play Miami or Clemson, which could make for an interesting tiebreaker situation at the end of the year. SMU hosts Pitt on Saturday in Dallas in a huge ACC matchup.

Pitt: Pitt has yet to lose this season, which means they are one of four teams who remain unbeaten in ACC play. They go to SMU this weekend and still have to play Clemson, so the Panthers, backed by quarterback Eli Holstein, have a chance to shake up the conference.

Independent

Notre Dame: The Irish are still defined by many by the embarrassing loss they took to Northern Illinois earlier in the year. Notre Dame, though, has now won six-straight and it is coming off a 51-14 blowout of Navy, which came into that game undefeated and ranked No. 24. Notre Dame has also beaten Texas A&M this year, so it could finish the season with victories over the Aggies, Midshipmen, Army and USC. No shot this team doesn’t get in at 11-1. It also my still get in at 10-2 if Texas A&M keeps winning.

Group of 5

Boise State: Backed by star running back Ashton Jeanty, Boise State is the clear leader to nab that Playoff spot from the G5. It played Oregon down to the wire on the road early in the season and is coming off a huge Mountain West win over UNLV. There isn’t a Playoff projection on the Internet right now that doesn’t have Boise State in.

UNLV: UNLV was one of the interesting stories of the season, but two heart-breaking Friday night losses to Syracuse and Boise State has knocked the Rebels out of the spotlight. But if UNLV runs the table and beats Boise State in the Mountain West Championship Game — in Boise — there’s a really good chance they are the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion at the end of the year. Even with two losses.

Army: Though Army probably didn’t love watching Navy get destroyed by Notre Dame over the weekend, it remains unbeaten on the season. The Irish are on Army’s schedule, too, so it hopes to play a little better against Notre Dame than its rival. Even so, losing to Notre Dame doesn’t go against the Black Knights in the American Athletic Conference race.

Navy: Navy got brought down to earth Saturday in a blowout loss to Navy, which was the first blemish on its record on the season. Navy is still unbeaten in the AAC and could meet Army in the conference title game. If Navy runs the table, it could be in an advantageous position on Selection Sunday, though the AAC Champ is probably hoping for some more weird losses in the Mountain West.

Tulane: You may not be paying attention to Tulane after it lost games to Kansas State and Oklahoma before reaching conference play. The Wave, though, have won five-straight games and are unbeaten in AAC play. They play Navy this year. Like Army and Navy, Tulane would need some help. But it is still very much alive in the conference race.

Washington State: Washington State may actually be dead. It’s not in a recognizable conference, so if it makes the CFP, it would have to be as an at-large. There is no automatic bid for them. It just seems wrong to take the Cougars off the list if it has a chance to go 11-1 on the season.

Louisiana: The lone blemish on Louisiana’s schedule is a 41-33 loss to Tulane. The Ragin’ Cajuns, though, are 7-1 on the season and haven’t lost a game in the Sun Belt race. It’s going to be a battle for them to be the highest-ranked G5 champion, but with the entire month of November still to be played, chaos could happen. Louisiana has a chance to be a one-loss conference champion. It has to still be alive.