College Football Playoff: The 22 teams who still have a chance to make the field

The third edition of the College Football Playoff Committee’s rankings will be revealed on Tuesday night.

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.

Last week, there were 26 teams were still alive; this week, there are 22. The four teams cut from last week’s list were Missouri, Kansas State, Washington State and Louisiana. Here’s a complete inventory of the teams still alive to compete for the national championship.

Big Ten

Oregon: For the first time since the first two weeks of the season, Oregon struggled with a team it had no business struggling with. It didn’t matter. The Ducks beat Wisconsin, 16-3, to stay unbeaten. Oregon plays Washington in the season-finale before heading to the Big Ten Championship and the College Football Playoff.

Indiana: Indiana didn’t play Saturday, giving them an extra week to prepare for the moment of truth. The Hoosiers, still unbeaten, travel to Columbus to play Ohio State on Saturday. Indiana seems like one of the best teams in the country, but we’ll get a real idea of just how dangerous the Hoosiers are. Anything outside of a blowout loss to the Buckeyes should keep Indiana in the Playoff discussion.

Penn State: Penn State kept rolling this weekend in a 49-10 blowout of Purdue. The Nittany Lions’ only blemish on their resume is a 7-point home loss to Ohio State. Penn State has Minnesota and Maryland left on the schedule. If it wins both, it’ll make the Playoff.

Ohio State: Ohio State is a one-loss team with a top-5 win over Penn State. Though Ohio State could be theoretically be in danger when Indiana comes to town Saturday, the Buckeyes likely would still make the Playoff even if they finish the season 10-2. Ohio State is a 12-point favorite over Indiana, so the Buckeyes are sitting pretty.

SEC

Texas A&M: Texas A&M may still be down in the dumps after getting blown out by South Carolina earlier this month. It got the chance to turn the page this weekend with a 38-3 win over New Mexico State. The Aggies still only have one loss in SEC play and host Texas at the end of the season. The Aggies, however, are only 2.5-point favorites at Auburn this weekend. This is crunch time. If Texas A&M keeps winning — and beats Texas somehow — it’ll likely be in the Playoff.

Georgia: Georgia went on the road two weeks ago and got its doors blown off by Ole Miss. Seven days later, the Bulldogs beat Tennessee by 14 at home. Georgia has looked amazing at times and bad at times this season, so we’re still uncertain of how high this team’s ceiling is. But two-loss Georgia hopped right back into the center of the Playoff picture this weekend.

Texas: Though Texas got beaten handily the only time it played another Playoff contender this year, the Longhorns have blown out just about everyone on their schedule. They played a closer-than-expected game against Arkansas this past weekend, but they still won. Texas is probably the favorite to win the SEC right now, but the game at Texas A&M in the regular-season finale will tell us everything we need to know. The Longhorns don’t want to go into Selection Sunday with a 10-2 record and no quality wins, so beating the Aggies is crucial.

Tennessee: Tennessee‘s resume took a hit Saturday in a loss to Georgia. It also has a loss to Arkansas. Still, the Volunteers have that win over Alabama in their back pocket, which could come up big in a few weeks. Tennessee should still root for some of these other SEC teams with two conferences losses to lose because they are squarely on the bubble right now.

Alabama: Alabama was left for dead after it lost to Tennessee in October, but it has responded with three-consecutive wins over Missouri, LSU and (yawn) Mercer. The win over LSU was utter domination in Tiger Stadium, which leaves us wondering if the Crimson Tide have turned a corner. Alabama has games with Oklahoma and Auburn still remaining on its schedule. If it finishes 10-2 with a win over Georgia in its pocket, that’s a recipe for making the field of 12.

Ole Miss: Mississippi’s domination of Georgia two weeks ago vaulted the Rebels back into the Playoff picture. Right now, Ole Miss has two losses, but its win over Georgia legitimizes the Rebels as a legit Playoff contender. Ole Miss still has to beat Florida and Mississippi State, but it’s sitting pretty right now.

Big 12

BYU: The Cougars have been living dangerously all season, and it finally caught up to them on Saturday night. Though BYU had a chance to beat Kansas late, it finally ran out of magic and came up short. BYU still only has one loss on the season and controls its own destiny for the Big 12 Championship Game. It goes to Arizona State on Saturday as a 3.5-point underdog.

Iowa State: Iowa State ended its two-game losing stream with a 17-point win over Cincinnati on Saturday. Though the Cyclones have been forgotten, they are still alive in the Big 12 race. They need some help, but with games against Utah and Kansas State still looming, the Cyclones aren’t dead yet.

Colorado: If you haven’t been paying attention to Colorado, now is the time to start. The Buffaloes have two games remaining on their schedule in Kansas and Oklahoma State. If it wins both of those games, Colorado is going to the Big 12 Championship Game. Now is the time to really start accepting Deion Sanders’ team has a really good chance to make the Playoff.

Arizona State: Arizona State was unjustly left off this two weeks ago. I added the Sun Devils back on last week. That turned out to be the right move, as Arizona State absolutely dominated Kansas State over the weekend. Now the Sun Devils host BYU in a game that’ll go a long way in determining who plays for the Big 12 Championship in Dallas. The Sun Devils are hot and very much alive.

ACC

Miami: Miami was cruising this season. Then it lost to Georgia Tech two weeks ago. Funny enough, Pittsburgh lost to Virginia later that evening. So in two television windows, Miami went from out of the CFP to the favorite to win the ACC again. Miami lived through a wide range of emotions, but the Hurricanes — who hold a tiebreaker over Clemson right now — still go to Charlotte if it doesn’t lose another regular season game.

SMU: In its first year in the ACC, SMU is leading the way in mid-November. The Mustangs have yet to lose a game in ACC play. Their only loss on the season is BYU, which still isn’t a bad loss. SMU got past Boston College over the weekend and now has Virginia and Cal left on its schedule. Things are looking pretty good for a matchup between SMU and Miami in the ACC title game. If SMU wins the ACC, it’s in the College Football Playoff.

Clemson: The Tigers have two losses, but only one is in ACC play. Clemson beat Pittsburgh on Saturday, which kept the Tigers lurking in the ACC race. Unfortunately for Clemson, it needs help to make the ACC Championship Game. Weirder things have happened, but the Tigers don’t control their own destiny in the conference or the Playoff race. They aren’t completely dead, though.

Independent

Notre Dame: Notre Dame kept cruising over the weekend with a win over Virginia. Notre Dame has now won eight-straight. Notre Dame has also beaten Texas A&M this year, so it could finish the season with victories over the Aggies and Army. Navy has three losses now, so that win isn’t as impressive anymore. But there’s no shot this team doesn’t get in at 11-1.

Group of 5

Boise State: Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty rushed for 159 yards and three touchdowns in Boise State’s win over San Jose State on Saturday. The Broncos’ lone blemish on their resume is a last-second loss at Oregon early in the season. Boise State is the clear leader from the Group of 5 to grab that Playoff spot. It just has to keep winning.

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: Army got star quarterback Bryson Daily back Saturday and beat North Texas two weeks ago to improve to 9-0. The Black Knights, who are coming off a bye week, are in full control of its destiny in the AAC. This Saturday it plays Notre Dame — which blew out previously-undefeated Navy, 51-14 — so this is a chance for the Black Knights to really complicate things. They are 15.5-point underdogs to the Irish.

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 eight-straight games and are unbeaten in AAC play. Like Army and Navy, Tulane would need some help. But it is still alive.