The College Football Playoff picture looks different this week after the committee released its third set of rankings.
With two weeks left in the regular season, conference championship pictures are clearing up and teams are jockeying for playoff bids. There is still tons to be decided with plenty of marquee matchups left on the schedule.
Here are three takeaways from the latest CFP rankings.
Sports Roundup
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North Texas earned its first ranking in the AP Top 25 since 1959 this week and is squarely in the mix for a College Football Playoff bid. But that poll is not the one that matters to the Mean Green’s playoff hopes.
North Texas did not appear in this week’s rankings and Tulane was the lone Group of Five team to appear in the rankings at No. 24. This makes UNT’s path a little murky.
If the Mean Green can win its final two games against Rice and Temple, UNT will punch its ticket to the American Conference championship game, which would presumably be against Tulane.
However, Mean Green fans should keep an eye on how James Madison finishes its season as well. Without knowing how the committee sees North Texas compared to the Sun Belt’s James Madison, it’s not a certainty the Mean Green would be the highest ranked Group of Five team in the final rankings if both UNT and James Madison win out.
All Eric Morris’ team can do is win out and hope the Mean Green are one of the committee’s five highest ranked conference champions.
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Is Texas still in the hunt?
Had the Longhorns kept things a little closer in their 35-10 loss to Georgia, a playoff bid at 9-3 would feel more realistic. But Texas dropped all the way to No. 17 and it appears the Longhorns’ playoff hopes are on life support.
Texas obviously would need to win its final two games against Arkansas and No. 3 Texas A&M to even have a remote chance at a playoff bid, but now it looks like the Longhorns would need a significant amount of help as well.
Texas fans should start rooting for teams in front of them to drop games in the final couple of weeks if they have any hopes of a trip to the CFP.
Oklahoma in the driver’s seat
Not much changed for Texas A&M and Texas Tech, though the Red Raiders moved up to No. 5 after Alabama fell to No. 10.
The big change among local teams is that the Oklahoma Sooners are in the driver’s seat for a playoff bid after their road win over then-No. 4 Alabama. If Oklahoma is able to handle business in the final two weeks at home against No. 22 Missouri and LSU, the Sooners will punch their ticket to the College Football Playoff.
The Sooners’ path doesn’t get much simpler than that.
Full rankingsRankTeamRecordPrevious ranking1Ohio State10-012Indiana11-023Texas A&M10-034Georgia9-155Texas Tech10-166Ole Miss10-177Oregon9-188Oklahoma8-2119Notre Dame8-2910Alabama8-2411BYU9-11212Utah8-21313Miami8-21514Vanderbilt8-21415USC8-21716Georgia Tech9-11617Texas7-31018Michigan8-21819Virginia9-21920Tennessee7-32321Illinois7-3NR22Missouri7-3NR23Houston8-2NR24Tulane8-2NR25Arizona State7-3NRNorth Texas approaching uncharted territory under Eric Morris as magical season rolls onIn yet another November conference title race, Rhett Lashlee has SMU in a familiar spot
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