This is it -- the last chance for teams to make a first impression on the College Football Playoff selection committee before its first of six rankings is revealed Tuesday.
Half of the top-10 teams are off this week -- Baylor, LSU, Ohio State, Michigan State and Alabama -- so the focus turns to the undefeated and one-loss contenders teams that will be playing. Here's a look at which teams have the most to gain in the Week 9 games with the biggest impact on the playoff picture:
1. Temple: Temple is in contention for a New Year's Six bowl as the highest-ranked team from a Group of 5 conference, and a win over the Irish would give the Owls their first win over a ranked opponent this season. So far, Memphis has the American's best win, over Ole Miss, but a win over No. 9 Notre Dame could rival it, depending on how the Irish and Ole Miss finish the season. If both Temple and Memphis continue winning, their head-to-head result should settle any debate.
2. Florida: The Gators are playing for a cushy lead in the SEC East. Florida is currently the only team that controls its own destiny in the East, but it cannot clinch the division this week. The Gators will have at least a two-game lead over every other East team, though, if they beat Georgia. This is the toughest remaining game on Florida's schedule, according to ESPN's FPI, which still favors the Gators with a 54.5 percent chance to win. Florida's only loss so far is to undefeated LSU. If the Gators win out and win the SEC, it's hard to imagine them being left out of the top four. This is the biggest hurdle remaining.
3. Notre Dame: After losing to Clemson, the Irish need to win out to have a shot, and a loss to the Owls would knock them out of the playoff picture. Notre Dame still has to play at Pitt and Stanford, and ESPN's Football Power Index favors Stanford at 59.1 percent. A win against the No. 21 Owls would help Notre Dame's résumé, especially since Georgia Tech has faded and the Irish have lost to the only ranked team they've played.
4. Stanford: The Cardinal can afford a loss to Notre Dame in the regular-season finale -- because it could still win the conference -- but a loss at Washington State could be a knockout blow. It's one thing to win a Pac-12 title in spite of nonconference losses to Northwestern and Notre Dame, but it's an entirely different playoff picture if Stanford stumbles in Pullman.
5. Oklahoma State: A road win against a gritty Texas Tech team would carry more weight than a TCU home win this week. The Cowboys are still undefeated and have yet to face the toughest stretch of their schedule. Unlike its undefeated Big 12 counterparts, the difference with Oklahoma State is that ESPN's FPI gives the Cowboys less than a 35 percent chance in each game to beat TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma.
6. TCU: TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma State are all still undefeated and have yet to play one another, but the Horned Frogs can't enter that November round-robin schedule playing from behind. It's certainly not unfathomable to think the Big 12 champ will have a league loss, but it shouldn't come at home this weekend for TCU -- not when the Frogs finish November with Oklahoma State, OU and Baylor in three of the final four weeks.
http://espn.go.com/college-football...ght-other-college-football-playoff-contenders
Half of the top-10 teams are off this week -- Baylor, LSU, Ohio State, Michigan State and Alabama -- so the focus turns to the undefeated and one-loss contenders teams that will be playing. Here's a look at which teams have the most to gain in the Week 9 games with the biggest impact on the playoff picture:
1. Temple: Temple is in contention for a New Year's Six bowl as the highest-ranked team from a Group of 5 conference, and a win over the Irish would give the Owls their first win over a ranked opponent this season. So far, Memphis has the American's best win, over Ole Miss, but a win over No. 9 Notre Dame could rival it, depending on how the Irish and Ole Miss finish the season. If both Temple and Memphis continue winning, their head-to-head result should settle any debate.
2. Florida: The Gators are playing for a cushy lead in the SEC East. Florida is currently the only team that controls its own destiny in the East, but it cannot clinch the division this week. The Gators will have at least a two-game lead over every other East team, though, if they beat Georgia. This is the toughest remaining game on Florida's schedule, according to ESPN's FPI, which still favors the Gators with a 54.5 percent chance to win. Florida's only loss so far is to undefeated LSU. If the Gators win out and win the SEC, it's hard to imagine them being left out of the top four. This is the biggest hurdle remaining.
3. Notre Dame: After losing to Clemson, the Irish need to win out to have a shot, and a loss to the Owls would knock them out of the playoff picture. Notre Dame still has to play at Pitt and Stanford, and ESPN's Football Power Index favors Stanford at 59.1 percent. A win against the No. 21 Owls would help Notre Dame's résumé, especially since Georgia Tech has faded and the Irish have lost to the only ranked team they've played.
4. Stanford: The Cardinal can afford a loss to Notre Dame in the regular-season finale -- because it could still win the conference -- but a loss at Washington State could be a knockout blow. It's one thing to win a Pac-12 title in spite of nonconference losses to Northwestern and Notre Dame, but it's an entirely different playoff picture if Stanford stumbles in Pullman.
5. Oklahoma State: A road win against a gritty Texas Tech team would carry more weight than a TCU home win this week. The Cowboys are still undefeated and have yet to face the toughest stretch of their schedule. Unlike its undefeated Big 12 counterparts, the difference with Oklahoma State is that ESPN's FPI gives the Cowboys less than a 35 percent chance in each game to beat TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma.
6. TCU: TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma State are all still undefeated and have yet to play one another, but the Horned Frogs can't enter that November round-robin schedule playing from behind. It's certainly not unfathomable to think the Big 12 champ will have a league loss, but it shouldn't come at home this weekend for TCU -- not when the Frogs finish November with Oklahoma State, OU and Baylor in three of the final four weeks.
http://espn.go.com/college-football...ght-other-college-football-playoff-contenders
