When the 12-team College Football Playoff was created, its architects touted how expansion would have dozens of teams in the race entering November.
Mission accomplished.
According to CFP projections from The Athletic’s Austin Mock, 40 teams have at least a 2 percent chance to make the playoff, including Pittsburgh, Houston and Iowa.
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No longer making that cut: LSU.
Nine weeks into the college football season, what we have learned about the CFP is that almost half the teams that began the season ranked in the top 15 won’t be in it, but Cincinnati and Virginia just might.
And as tenuous as things feel for Texas right now, the Longhorns are still in far better shape than three other hyped preseason contenders.
Valley of Death
Throw LSU on the pile with Penn State and Clemson as the most disappointing teams in the country. The Nittany Lions (3-4, 0-4 Big Ten) and Clemson’s Tigers (3-4, 2-3 ACC) started the season in the top five and might not get bowl eligible.
The record is better for Brian Kelly’s Tigers (5-3, 2-3 SEC), but it’s getting just as bleak in Baton Rouge.
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