No matter what happens next week, Alabama and Ohio State should be headed to the playoffs. The Buckeyes are not in the Big Ten title game, but an 11-1 Ohio State team that played a brutal schedule better make the playoffs. If they don’t, we should just say a team has to win the conference title to reach the playoffs, but that is not the point of the selection committee. So that leaves two spots, which will presumably go to Clemson and Washington if both can win their conference titles this weekends. If somebody loses, things will start to get interesting. That is where the winner of Penn State and Wisconsin or Oklahoma will be waiting and hoping for the best. On the other end of the bowl spectrum, right now there will be at least two 5-7 teams who will reach a bowl game. North Texas, Mississippi State and Texas should be the first in line based on the APR scores to squeeze into the bowl picture.
American: Houston, Memphis, Navy, South Florida, Temple, Tulsa, UCF
ACC: Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Big 12: Baylor, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, West Virginia
Big Ten: Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin
C-USA: Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Old Dominion, Southern Miss, Texas-San Antonio, Western Kentucky
Independent: Army, BYU
MAC: Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Miami (OH), Ohio, Toledo, Western Michigan
MWC: Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, Hawaii, New Mexico, San Diego State, Wyoming
Pac-12: Colorado, Stanford, USC, Utah, Washington, Washington State
SEC: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
Sun Belt: Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Idaho, Louisiana, South Alabama, Troy
