As damaging as Week 8 was to the Big 12's hopes of getting multiple teams into the College Football Playoff, BYU and Utah could still both get in as a Big 12 champion and runner-up. Consider one path: BYU beats Utah during the regular season, Notre Dame beats Miami and runs the table, and BYU picks up wins over Utah, Notre Dame and Arizona. BYU then loses its second game of the season to Utah in the Big 12 title game. Utah is in as the Big 12 champion, and two-loss BYU has regular-season wins against the Big 12 champ and Notre Dame.
That's what the Bubble Watch is for. It breaks each of the Power 4 conferences into categories: "In" for teams in this week's projection, "Wrong side of the bubble" for those just outside the bracket, "Too early to tell" for teams that still have a shot, and "Out" for teams with at least three losses. This will change week to week as each team builds or busts its résumé.
In the ACC, Miami remains the obvious choice for the No. 1 spot. According to the Allstate Playoff Predictor, no team in the country has a better chance to reach the playoff, at 97.4%. Miami ranks No. 1 nationally in scoring offense at 49 points per game and No. 11 in scoring defense at 15.3 PPG. ESPN's Football Power Index still projects the Hurricanes to lose a close one at Notre Dame on Nov. 7.
In the Big 12, Utah earned its first win against a ranked opponent, but its No. 89 strength of schedule ranks last in the conference. Utah can change that over the next three weeks with games at Cincinnati, against BYU and at Arizona. Those games could legitimize its playoff hopes or send it tumbling out quickly.
Source: ESPN General · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing