Week 9 CFP Rankings 2018

The first CFP rankings came out in week 9 of the 2018 season and they were as follows,

1		University of Alabama	8-0
2		Clemson University	8-0
3		Louisiana State University	7-1
4		University of Notre Dame	8-0
5		University of Michigan	7-1
6		University of Georgia	7-1
7		University of Oklahoma	7-1
8		Washington State University	7-1
9		University of Kentucky	7-1
10		Ohio State University	7-1
11		University of Florida	6-2
12		University of Central Florida	7-0
13		West Virginia University	6-1
14		Penn State University	6-2
15		University of Utah	6-2
16		University of Iowa	6-2
17		University of Texas	6-2
18		Mississippi State University	5-3
19		Syracuse University	6-2
20		Texas A&M University	5-3
21		North Carolina State University	5-2
22		Boston College	6-2
23		Fresno State	7-1
24		Iowa State University	4-3
25		University of Virginia	6-2

At this point with Clemson's remaining schedule they were a shoe in, Alabama was headed to #4 LSU the following week and the thought was if they won that game they were more or less a lock for the CFP, so in late October there's already only 2 CFP spots left and as history shows if you have 2 losses your season is already over. Outside of Bama and Clemson there remained 9 Power 5 teams with 1 loss or less. UCF was undefeated but under the current system no G5 team has ever made the CFP and never will unless it's expanded. So again, by late October of the 130 FBS teams, only 9 are playing meaningful games. 

Those 9 teams were LSU, Notre Dame, Michigan, Georgia, Oklahoma, Washington State, Kentucky, Ohio State and West Virginia. 

LSU played Bama 

ND played Northwestern 

Michigan played Penn State 

Georgia played Kentucky in a CFP elimination game in week 9 

Oklahoma played Texas Tech

Washington State played Cal 

Ohio State played Nebraska 

West Virginia played Texas 

In week 9, the first week in November, these were the only games that had an implications in the college football world because of the fact that the playoff as it stands is a paltry 4 teams. 

If the playoff was moved up to 12 teams then P5 teams with 2 losses or less remain squarely alive and in some cases depending on performance and strength of schedule teams with 3 losses or less may hold onto hope as well. G5 teams with 1 loss or less on the cusp of the top 25 also have hope in this circumstance. With these teams on the bubble their 4 games to close out the year are all now effectively playoff games. 

Across the nation, fan bases are excited, teams are alive and playing with juice now knowing that, this could be their year. This could be the year they make it into the CFP and have a chance to make some noise. Under a 12 team playoff in week 9 rather than have 9 teams playing meaningful games, you would now have 25-30 teams hoping they can run the table and launch themselves into the top 12. Here's what's interesting about that. In the past decade there have only been 3 teams in the P5 to not crack the top 25, Wake Forest, Indiana, Purdue. With that said in theory only 3 P5 teams over the past decade wouldn't have had a single season where they thought they had a chance at the CFP. Imagine the excitement and parity this could create?