Top 4 CFP prediction for Week 11: Can Oregon leapfrog Washington?
By Josh Yourish
The College Football Playoff committee made it clear in their first rankings that one-loss teams are not going to be ahead of unbeatens. The top five teams all had a zero in the loss column and unfortunately for Dan Lanning’s Ducks, they have a pesky No. 1.
That one loss might be the only reason that Oregon isn’t No. 1 in the country because there may not be a better team in the country. After beating Utah in Salt Lake City, something that never happens, the Ducks proceeded to dominate Cal, 63-19 in Week 10.
The committee had Ohio State, Georgia, Michigan, Florida State, and Washington ahead of the No. 6 Ducks in the first rankings and it will be hard to crack the top 4 with all five of those teams winning on Saturday.
Oregon keeps on dominating, but will the Ducks need somebody in front of them to lose to climb into one of the coveted top four spots?
Oregon won’t break through into the Top 4 of the CFP rankings in Week 11
What really complicates Oregon’s path to the top 4 is the loss to Washington head-to-head. It feels like the committee and everyone else is dying to put the Ducks ahead of the Huskies, but it’s just impossible with Washington’s win.
The committee has made it clear that they value big wins over the eye test by putting Ohio State at No. 1 last week. By those rules, this should be the top six this Week.
- Ohio State
- Georgia
- Washington
- Florida State
- Oregon
- Michigan
Sure, Michigan is undefeated, but the Wolverines haven’t beaten anybody good all year. They’ll have their chance to jump into the top with a matchup against Penn State this week, but the committee should force them to prove it first.
If we were to go purely on the eye test, these are my top six eye test teams.
- Michigan
- Oregon
- Georgia
- Washington
- Ohio State
- Florida State
The committee just can’t do that, because they’ve established the rules by putting Ohio State at the top last week.
