Ranked wins carry immense weight when College Football Playoff résumés are scrutinized early next month ahead of the selection committee's first rankings. And at midseason, there are already a few teams that have stacked multiple victories over top-25 opponents, while another dozen have at least one signature result to bring to the CFP debate room. Overall records matter, too, and two losses hurt right now.
That's where this conversation starts to get interesting, by the way, ahead of next season's expected 24-team expansion. All those 9-3 SEC teams are essentially locks to reach the CFP next fall, but this year's group will face high-end adversaries from the Big 12 -- and perhaps Notre Dame -- to try and keep them out. If Saturday's record-setting barrage of upsets is any indication, it appears nobody's safe from potentially taking another loss -- or two -- the rest of the way.
What constitutes a "ranked" win? We're determining those by the CFP's definition: victories over teams currently ranked in the top 25. For this exercise, we're using the latest AP Top 25.
So, LSU's win over Texas A&M in Week 4, for instance, does not count as a ranked victory since the Aggies are outside of the current national rankings. Three of the six teams with multiple ranked wins this season are from the SEC, which should show up in a few weeks as the CFP selection committee adds another data point -- conference strength -- to its metrics. Remaining games against ranked teams: Utah Kalani Sitake's team made a statement heard 'round the sport with its top-10 win over the Fighting Irish, one of the best non-conference victories this fall.
It almost guarantees the Big 12 will be a two-bid league in the playoff as long as Utah and Texas Tech keep winning. After failing to reach the 12-team bracket last year despite an 11-2 finish, the Cougars may have punched their ticket with their Week 7 triumph, especially if Notre Dame wins out as a top-tier title threat. Remaining games against ranked teams: USC, Northwestern No team in the Big Ten has a better resume at midseason than the Buckeyes with two ranked victories, but their loss at Texas is beginning to age poorly.
The Longhorns are reeling with back-to-back losses to unranked foes after climbing to No. 1 in the rankings and erasing a 20-point deficit in the matchup that Ohio State appeared to have in hand after the third quarter. Losing quarterback Julian Sayin for an extended period of time is a factor the CFP selection committee will consider moving forward if Ohio State gets tripped up over the next few weeks. It could also affect CFP seeding if Sayin is not back to full strength by the end of November, like it did for Florida State's Jordan Travis situation back in 2023.
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