Two of the few remaining unbeatens bit the dust when Penn State and Iowa State dropped their first games of the season this weekend. As every team joins the rest of the world in the loss column, their future prospects of a College Football Playoff bid inch closer and closer to the blender of elimination.
The College Football Playoff Rankings are set to drop this coming week, and the AP Poll will become obsolete at the same moment the playoff committee reveals its image of the sport's landscape.
With the introduction of the 12-team playoff and the abolishment of the more exclusive 4-team model, playing real and meaningful football is finally available to more deserving candidates. The AP Poll has done its job to this point, but poll inertia will hopefully become a relic of the past with the new rankings system.
Iowa State's playoff hopes now rely on a Big 12 championship berth after dropping their game against Texas Tech. Penn State will go from being ranked third to being on the outside looking in at a moment's notice. Is it fair to exclude a team for losing to one of the nations' best? Probably not, but the Nittany Lions are in jeopardy thanks to their one 7-point slip up.
Every result of every contending team is under heavy scrutiny, whether they win or lose. For example, Miami is still unbeaten, but struggled for 3 quarters against the Duke Blue Devils. Pitt fell for the first time this season to a ranked SMU team, but will desperately grasp at a spot in the top 25.
As a reminder, while I'm going to predict this week's AP Poll, please keep in mind that I'm making a prediction of how I think these rankings will play out. This is not my personal top 25 (you'll likely notice that BYU isn't in the top 5), but rather a projection of what the official rankings may look like while taking into account factors like poll inertia, last week's results, and things of that nature.
Week 11 AP Top 25 ranking prediction
1. Oregon
2. Georgia
3. Ohio State
4. Miami
5. Texas
6. Tennessee
7. Penn State
8. Notre Dame
9. BYU
10. Indiana
11. Alabama
12. Boise State
13. LSU
14. SMU
15. Iowa State
16. Ole Miss
17. Clemson
18. Texas A&M
19. Army
20. Colorado
21. Washington State
22. Missouri
23. Kansas State
24. Pittsburgh
25. Vanderbilt