The College Football Playoff rankings will be released in a few weeks and these five teams might be sweating going into them. Their seasons aren’t quite hanging by a thread yet, but they could be if things don’t fall in their favor to end the season. Ohio State’s quarterback situation, Texas and Alabama’s untimely losses; all of it has a chance to shuffle the CFP seeds and find some unsuspecting teams with a chance to play for a national championship.

Ohio State Buckeyes

Ohio State will be without Julian Sayin for the foreseeable future and it makes you wonder if that will cause the Buckeyes’ season to implode. Luke Fahey is the projected starter moving forward and he’s a true freshman. Ohio State has USC this week and that’s a tough test for a true freshman quarterback. This is the game that could determine Ohio State’s fate in the College Football Playoff. With a loss, Ohio State would have two of them and find themselves on the outside of the CFP bubble. 

Fortunately, they’ll have a full week to prepare with a new quarterback, but having USC and Oregon in consecutive weeks could derail their season. Nebraska could pose a threat though it shouldn’t be too much of a battle. Either way, the Buckeyes’ season could derail if the quarterback play holds them back. It also means the Big Ten is now wide open because a one-loss Ohio State team is now outside the Big Ten championship game contention. They could still get in, but if they lose either or both of the next two games, it will be increasingly difficult to make it to the CFP for the third-straight season.

Texas Longhorns

Another team with a pending quarterback problem is Texas. Steve Sarkisian has seemed non-committal on Arch Manning moving forward after two lackluster performances handed the Longhorns consecutive losses. This season feels very much like last year where Texas lost a couple of games they shouldn’t have and it ultimately hurt their CFP chances. Last year they complained they should have gotten into the CFP. This year, they’ll try to make the same argument, but two unranked losses isn’t exactly enticing to the CFP selection committee. 

With Ole Miss this week, Texas could be handed a third-straight loss. That would effectively end their CFP hopes. With a win, they’re still alive, but still have Missouri, Mississippi State and LSU to play, which could pose a threat to their CFP hopes. Their season isn’t quite hanging by a thread because a lot can unfold. If last week taught us anything, it’s that a lot can change in a week. 

Alabama Crimson Tide

Alabama is fortunate to only have dropped to No. 13, but it still technically puts them outside of the CFP bubble. Two straight losses isn’t ideal, but the blowout loss to Tennessee might end up hurting them more than it already has. Alabama just has LSU remaining on their schedule as a ranked opponent, which means they’ll need help from the teams ahead of them to get into the CFP this season. This might be the year the Big 12 gets multiple teams in the field and if it does, that leaves a team like Texas or Alabama on the outskirts. 

The Crimson Tide dominated this season and even looked good in the loss to Georgia. The loss to Tennessee is inexcusable. Taking nothing away from Tennessee, but those are the types of games the CFP selection committee turns to as reason to omit playoff bubble teams. The good thing is Alabama has survived the toughest part of their schedule. The downside is their margin of error is extremely thin. 

LSU Tigers

LSU has had a rough start to the season and it’s not getting any better. The Tigers have to play Alabama, Texas and Tennessee in consecutive weeks after a game against Auburn this week. Sam Leavitt hasn’t been playing great at all this year and he’s been one of the reasons LSU hasn’t had the success in year one with Lane Kiffin than they probably anticipated. The loss to Ole Miss was one thing. The loss to Kentucky was sobering. Now Kiffin’s crew is outside the playoff bubble. 

Kiffin left Oxford for Baton Rouge because he wanted to win a national championship. As it stands right now, he won’t be doing that this season with LSU. That’s not to say the Tigers can’t contend next year, but it’s clear it’s a long shot for LSU to get to the CFP. If they win out the rest of the season, they make the CFP selection committee’s job tough. Any other losses at this point will keep them outside the playoff bubble.

Utah Utes

While the Big 12 has proven it’s not as weak as the Big Ten and SEC alludes to when it comes to the CFP, a lot can happen that can shake up the CFP race. Utah has the toughest remaining schedule of any Big 12 team in contention. The Utes have to play both BYU and Houston, though they avoid Texas Tech this season. Those two games will determine Utah’s fate. The Utes had a weak first half of the season and will need to prove they shouldn’t be snubbed for the second-straight season. 

It’s hard to see Utah getting in with those two losses, regardless of what happens ahead of them. The Big 12 is up for grabs with three teams leading the way. Oklahoma State was in the conversation, but it will be difficult for them to get back into contention after the loss to Houston. Utah can’t slip up in the second half of the season. They could survive one less but they won’t survive two and this second half will be a true test to their contention.