College playoff positioning heats up … Big week in college football coming up with the annual traditional Thanksgiving rivalry games on the schedule. And after another interesting week this past weekend in which just about all the teams still in contention for the 4-team CFP all held serve. Indeed, with just this week, plus next weekend’s conference championship games, it appears there are still as many as 8 or 9 teams with a shot at making the real college post-season. The three remaining unbeaten Power 5 teams – Alabama, Clemson and Notre Dame – of course, control their own destinies and will make the playoff if they win out; indeed, Alabama and Clemson likely would still make it even with a loss. On the other hand, though, there is a real scramble for the 4th and final spot. Certainly the winner of Saturday’s Michigan/Ohio State battle will be staking a claim if they win the BIG TEN title game against Northwestern the following week; same for Oklahoma, which plays West Virginia in the BIG XII this week, while Washington State, which plays cross-state rival Washington in the Apple Bowl on Friday night, still has an outside shot from the far coast. Meanwhile, SEC East champion Georgia still has a path, but would have to beat #1 Alabama in the SEC title game early next month. Then there’s still unbeaten Central Florida, the top-rated non-Power 5 team in the country, which has finally sneaked into the top 10 this week, but would still need a plethora of upsets to make the playoff. And if all that just screams out the need for an expanded CFP playoff you wouldn’t be far wrong. But that is, sadly, still a ways off. In the meantime, here’s how GBN Associate Editor and resident college football guru Pigskin Paul Guillemette has the teams ranked with those 2-3 weeks to go.
