Sometimes it’s not necessarily what you do, but what others do around you. That seems to be the case with Ohio State football’s chances of making the College Football Playoff according to FiveThirtyEight’s College Football Playoff Predictions after Week 7.
To be fair, the Buckeyes still have a great shot to join all the fun and perhaps make it to Los Angeles for a shot at a national title according to the popular analytics website, but they are no longer the team with the best odds of making the CFP after a wild college football weekend during which four top 10 teams lost.
In fact, Ohio State is no longer the team with the best chance to make the playoff, that now goes to another SEC team after Tennessee took down Alabama, which had been skating on thin ice anyway.
Here’s a look at the teams with the best chance to make the CFP according to FiveThirtyEight. We’re only going with teams that have a 3% chance or better, but you can take a look at all the analytics and play around with teams winning out vs. getting a conference title to see how everything moves around.
No. 18 (tie) - Penn State Nittany Lions (5-1)
Chances of making the College Football Playoff
3% (⇓)
Chances if win out
42%
No. 18 (tie) - North Carolina Tarheels (5-1)
Chances of making the College Football Playoff
3% (⇓)
Chances if win out
67%
No. 17 - Illinois Fighting Illini (6-1)
Chances of making the College Football Playoff
4% (⇑)
Chances if win out
95%
No. 16 - Kansas State Wildcats (5-1)
Chances of making the College Football Playoff
5% (⇔)
Chances if win out
97%
No. 13 (tie) - Utah Utes (5-2)
Chances of making the College Football Playoff
7% (⇑)
Chances if win out
35%
No. 13 (tie) - Oklahoma State Cowboys (5-1)
Chances of making the College Football Playoff
7% (⇓)
Chances if win out
93%
No. 13 (tie) - Syracuse Orange (6-0)
Chances of making the College Football Playoff
7% (⇑)
Chances if win out
>99%
No. 11 (tie) - USC Trojans (6-1)
Chances of making the College Football Playoff
9% (⇓)
Chances if win out
50%
No. 11 (tie) - Oregon Ducks (5-1)
Chances of making the College Football Playoff
9% (⇔)
Chances if win out
71%
No. 9 (tie) - UCLA Bruins (6-0)
Chances of making the College Football Playoff
11% (⇔)
Chances if win out
94%
No. 9 (tie) - Texas Longhorns (5-2)
Chances of making the College Football Playoff
11% (⇔)
Chances if win out
70%
No. 8 - Ole Miss Rebels (7-0)
Chances of making the College Football Playoff
15% (⇑)
Chances if win out
>99%
No. 7 - TCU Horned Frogs (6-0)
Chances of making the College Football Playoff
21% (⇑)
Chances if win out
>99%
No. 6 - Alabama Crimson Tide (6-1)
Chances of making the College Football Playoff
29% (⇓)
Chances if win out
98%
No. 5 - Tennessee Volunteers (6-0)
Chances of making the College Football Playoff
37% (⇑)
Chances if win out
>99%
No. 4 - Michigan Wolverines (7-0)
Chances of making the College Football Playoff
40% (⇑)
Chances if win out
>99%
No. 3 - Clemson Tigers (7-0)
Chances of making the College Football Playoff
51% (⇑)
Chances if win out
>99%
No. 2 - Ohio State Buckeyes (6-0)
Chances of making the College Football Playoff
58% (⇑)
Chances if win out
>99%
No. 1 - Georgia Bulldogs (7-0)
Chances of making the College Football Playoff
61% (⇑)
Chances if win out
>99%
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