The beginning of November is also the start of crunch time for teams hoping to make the College Football Playoff. Week 10 saw some teams step forward and others put their playoff hopes in peril or be outright eliminated.
Moving into the forecasted field this week are three teams. Texas Tech is the new pick to win the Big 12 with Brigham Young moving into the at-large pool. Louisville takes over as the ACC champion, and South Florida replaces Tulane as the American favorite and Group of Five representative in the field.
Other teams improving their stock but not yet among the final 12 are Oklahoma and Texas after respective wins against Tennessee and Vanderbilt. The losses were damaging to the hopes of the Volunteers and Commodores, who each will need a lot to fall right to get a selection.
It was also a bad week for two ACC teams falling out of the field. Miami answered the question whether its loss last month to Louisville was a blip or evidence of a deeper issue. The Hurricanes are in serious trouble after falling to SMU. The path through the ACC seems closed and at-large hopes need some chaos ahead. Georgia Tech now must likely win the league to get in after an unsettling loss to North Carolina State.
Notes: Legacy Pac-12 schools in other conferences will fulfill existing Pac-12 bowl agreements through the 2025 season. Not all conferences will fulfill their bowl allotment. An asterisk represents a replacement pick.
