Under the Radar CFP Teams
October 14th 2021, Written by Justin Levine
Less than 2 months into the season 40+ ranked teams have already felt defeat. Parody has become the new normal in college football. Each week seems to be filled with big favorites losing that we never saw coming. Perennial powerhouses like Alabama, Ohio State, and Clemson have suffered surprising losses, leaving the door open for new teams to reach the playoff. Here are 5 teams, currently ranked outside of the AP Top 10, that have a path to that illustrious Four.
(18) Arizona State
The Sun Devils have definitively proven to be the 2nd best team in the Conference of Champions behind Oregon. Jayden Daniels leads an offensive attack that hung 42 points in Pasadena over then 20th-ranked UCLA just a few weeks ago. It also helps to have a former NFL coach at the helm. Herm Edwards has this team trending in the right direction, leading them to a 5-1 start. His team’s lone loss came at BYU, which means they are still undefeated in league play. Their toughest test before the Pac-12 championship likely comes this weekend in Salt Lake City. Sadly, the West Coast has been accustomed to teams underperforming and State hopes that USC and Washington continue to fall well below preseason expectations. If the Sun Devils win out they will be sitting at 12-1, with a conference title win over Oregon.
(16) Wake forest
Unsurprisingly, heading into Week 7 of the season the ACC only has one undefeated team. Very surprisingly, that team is Wake Forest and not Clemson. The Deacs are yet to play a ranked team, but if they finish the season unblemished the committee would put them in over Cincinnati without hesitation. After a soft opening schedule, Wake barely survived the last two weeks as they beat both Louisville and Syracuse by a field goal. Their last 4 games are the toughest, as they finish up with UNC, NC State, Clemson, and Boston College. Mathematically speaking, it is still possibly for Wake Forest to go 12-0, however, 8-4 is not out of the realm of possibilities. While perfection is unlikely, they certainly have a path towards the playoff.
(11) Kentucky
The Wildcats are the first of back-to-back SEC teams that appear on this list. Unlike Wake, Kentucky has truly earned their 6-0 record. They beat Florida by a touchdown and beat the brakes off of LSU last weekend, as they rushed for 330 yards. Penn State transfer Will Levis eats bananas with the peel on, but has proven to be a leader of this team. Chris Rodriguez Jr. and Kavosiey Smoke lead a potent rushing attacked behind what some have deemed as the best offensive line in college football. That O-Line will be put to the test this weekend as the Cats travel to Athens to try to dethrone the #1 team in the country. It might be a long shot, and I surely hope it doesn’t happen, but if Kentucky wins this weekend, they might just have a date with Alabama in the SEC Championship.
(13) Ole miss
Even after their disappointing performance in Tuscaloosa, the fighting Lane Kiffin’s still have a path to glory. Alabama’s loss this past weekend slightly opened the door for Kiffin and Heisman contender Matt Corral. Other than the Alabama game, Ole Miss’ low for points in a game this season is 43. They beat Arkansas in a shootout last weekend 52-51 and can score with anybody (except Alabama seemingly). The will play an SEC West gauntlet the rest of the way, so winning out won’t be easy, but they also need Alabama to lose one more time. Bama finishes the regular season with games against Arkansas and Auburn, so if the Tide slip up in either of those, Ole Miss will be more than happy to take their spot in the SEC Title Game.
(12)
Oklahoma state
An undefeated Big 12 team will get into the Playoff 100/100 times. Oklahoma State’s advantage is that they can probably still get in with 1 loss. At 6-0 they are sitting pretty. The Pokes have Oklahoma at home this year. Even if they lose that game, they will likely get a rematch the week after in the Big 12 championship in what would basically be a playoff game. This year’s OK-State team is different than most. Spencer Sanders is still there at QB, but after losing Chuba Hubbard and Tylan Wallace to the NFL, the Cowboys strength is their defense. Thus far, they have held all 5 of their opponents under 24 points and 125 rushing yards. Their biggest test to date comes this weekend as they travel to Austin to face a disparaged Texas team. If Oklahoma State can stay unbeaten going into their matchup with OU, they may have two cracks at them to get into the playoff.