With expanded College Football Playoff field, these 20 teams have lost but are still alive

EUGENE, Ore. — His team’s rousing victory over No. 2 Ohio State just a few minutes old, Oregon coach Dan Lanning pushed aside that heart-pounding affair to state an obvious fact in the first few seconds of his postgame news conference: In the world of an expanded College Football Playoff, this game — though incredibly meaningful and important — was not the end all, be all.

In fact, he discussed that with his team even before the game.

“Regardless of result, everything is still on the table for both teams,” Lanning said after the Ducks’ 32-31 thriller in Autzen Stadium on Saturday night.

He’s right, of course. This year’s playoff will have an additional eight teams. The 12-team format, for those who have forgotten, features five automatic qualifiers for the five highest-ranked conference champions (the top four get a bye) and seven at-large spots for the next highest-ranked teams.

Halfway through the season, 11 undefeated teams remain, all or most in great position to obtain one of those 12 spots, including G5 teams like Army, Navy, Liberty and even one-loss Boise State.

But our focus isn’t on those programs.

There are plenty of one-loss, two-loss and even three-loss power conference teams that remain very much alive for a playoff bid — schools that, in a four-team playoff, would be left for dead. We picked the most legitimate 20 schools that, despite losses, are still in contention for a playoff berth.

The four power conference title winners will have byes in the new College Football Playoff. (Amy Monks/Yahoo Sports)

 

As you’re browsing our list, keep this in mind: Over the previous 10 seasons, a whopping 78 teams — nearly eight per season — finished ranked inside the top 11 with at least one loss. Many of those teams had two losses (35) and seven teams had three losses.

Does your team have a…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-10-14 12:45:44

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