A dozen teams have two losses or more in the first set of College Football Playoff rankings, which were released Tuesday .
Do any of those teams have a legitimate chance at reaching the playoff? After all, no two-loss team made the playoff each of the last two seasons, and LSU was the only two-loss team to play for a national championship during the BCS era. The Tigers won the national championship in 2007. ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit, however, said a pair of two-loss teams could make a case in 2016.
“If you look at them at a case-by-case basis, Wisconsin and Auburn could be those teams,” Herbstreit told Sporting News. “I think both of those teams if they win out; they would have a case to move up mainly because the teams ahead of them would have lost.”
Wisconsin (6-2) checked in at No. 8 in the rankings. The Badgers have played five teams that were ranked in the Top 10 at the time in the AP Poll, and they lost one-score games to Michigan and Ohio State. The Wolverines were No. 3 and the Buckeyes were No. 6 in the first set of playoff rankings.
MORE: College Footbal Playoff outlook
“If Wisconsin wins out, gets in the Big Ten championship game and they play Ohio State or Michigan and they win out, they’re going to have that chance.”
Auburn (6-2) started 1-2 with losses to Clemson and Texas A&M, but the Tigers have rattled off five straight wins and could roar into the Iron Bowl to face No. 1 Alabama in the regular-season finale. That has Herbstreit’s attention.
“They’ve won five straight and beat LSU, and don’t forget we know they have Alabama,” Herbstreit said. “If they can get to the SEC championship they could be one of those teams.”
Two-loss Wisconsin or two-loss Auburn? Don’t rule it out.
“Of all the teams, those are the two teams that realistically could make a run and try to get in there,” Herbstreit said.
MORE: 16 November games that will define the CFB Playoff race?
Herbstreit also addressed the College Football Playoff committee’s decision to put one-loss Texas A&M at No. 4 instead of undefeated Washington.
“I think there is no reason to jump up and down and go crazy,” Herbstreit said. “Just following it the last two years. Sometimes rankings come out first two three weeks make you scratch your heads … If Alabama, Michigan, Clemson, Texas A&M and Washington were to win out, then I think the system would reflect that and Washington would move to No. 4.”
Herbstreit was promoting his #StreitCred Twitter challenge with Allstate, a promotion that allows fans to promote players and teams that will be recognized during the prime-time telecast on ABC.
“The most feedback I’m getting is from fans involved during the day if there’s a performance that stands out to them,” Herbstreit said. “It tries to recognize their teams regardless of hype or ranking. We’re getting tremendous feedback.”
