CLEVELAND, Ohio — Seven weeks of games are yet to be played before the new College Football Playoff Selection Committee names the four participants for the first national playoff, but the list of potential contenders is shrinking. Among schools from the five major conferences — just three remain unbeaten — Florida State, Mississippi and Mississippi State. The number of one-loss teams has dwindled to 15 from those conferences, plus Notre Dame. The committee will release its first rankings on Tuesday. It is a bit of a mystery as to how the committee will judge America’s football teams, and how much its weekly rankings will mean when the actual playoff pairings are announced Dec. 7. But, in an effort to track the teams in contention, each week we will offer a snapshot of contenders with a numbers look at their performances or roads ahead. We start this week with a list of the major conference teams (plus Notre Dame) that are either undefeated or have just one loss, and a look at head-to-head competition ahead for these teams. There are 16 regular-season games left on the schedule between these teams, guaranteeing that the list will shrink significantly. Five of these 19 teams are from the Southeastern Conference, which is dominating the traditional polls. …
Continue Reading: College football playoff contenders; Ohio State Buckeyes among teams with one loss
