It’s pretty crazy that the top 8 of the Playoff Poll hasn’t had any new members.

Think about that. The Playoff Poll is in its 4th week and nobody has been bumped out of the top 8.

That was still the case in the 4th Playoff rankings of 2023:

Here are 5 takeaways from the Nov. 21 version of the Playoff poll:

1. Florida State got bumped because of Washington’s Oregon State win, though the selection committee went about that in a weird way

The only shakeup within the top 10 was Florida State dropped to No. 5 and Washington moved up to No. 4. That’s significant for a couple of reasons. Washington got that love after going on the road and beating Oregon State while FSU dealt with devastating the Jordan Travis injury in a blowout win over an FCS foe.

So did the selection committee actually knock FSU because of Travis going down? I don’t believe it did, despite the timing of it. This was more about the respect given to Washington for beating a respected Oregon State team that the selection committee had at No. 11 at the time of the matchup. The strange thing was that the selection committee dropped the Beavers 5 spots down to No. 16 for a 2-point loss against undefeated Washington.

So which was it — did Washington have a big-time win or is Oregon State not as good as what the selection committee felt at this time last week? It’s complicated. Let’s not forget that fellow 3-loss team Arizona beat Oregon State a few weeks ago, so that gave the Wildcats the advantage in the rankings.

For now, I’m going to assume that regardless of what Boo Corrigan says, this was more about Washington building that résumé than it was about projecting a post-FSU version of Travis.

2. Alabama and Texas should be ranked ahead of Oregon

Sorry. It needs to be said. Oregon passes the eye test, yes, and that average margin vs. Power 5 competition (+23.2) reflects that, but it doesn’t have a single win against the current Playoff Top 25. The Ducks’ best wins are against 4-loss teams, they didn’t have red-hot Arizona on the schedule, they don’t face Oregon State until this weekend and they lost fair and square to Washington.

Compare that to fellow 1-loss team Alabama, who beat No. 12 Ole Miss, No. 14 LSU and No. 21 Tennessee.

Or compare that to fellow 1-loss team Texas, who beat No. 8 Alabama and No. 19 Kansas State.

It’s great that Oregon has looked the part against lesser foes. It’s not great that the Ducks’ résumé hasn’t aged well and unlike fellow “cake schedule” Michigan, they haven’t been knocked for it.

(By the way, both Michigan and Oregon are sitting there with just 3 victories against Power 5 teams with winning records while Alabama and Texas have 5 and 4, respectively.

As much as everyone wants to say “it’ll all play itself out,” we’re heading closer and closer to 1-loss résumés being picked apart. Oregon continued to be given a pass as the top 1-loss team, which should frustrate Tide and Longhorn fans.

3. Unlike last year, it’s becoming clear that Michigan-Ohio State is a Playoff quarterfinal game

To the surprise of no one, the selection committee didn’t make an unnecessary change to No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Michigan.

No disrespect to Iowa, but I won’t hold my breath on a Big Ten West team winning in Indy. Hence, why Saturday’s showdown in Ann Arbor feels like a Playoff quarterfinal game that’ll likely eliminate an unbeaten team from the field.

The Big Ten is partially responsible for that. If there were 6 teams in the Top 25 instead of 4, this might be a different conversation. Then again, it’s equally significant that Notre Dame turned into a 3-loss team and Michigan’s nonconference slate … well, it existed.

With 9 Power 5 teams sitting there with 0 or 1 loss, this doesn’t feel like the year in which a non-division winner will have a path to the Playoff. More on that in a second.

4. Louisville sitting at No. 10 ranking is telling

Here’s a fun fact. Louisville has more victories against Power 5 teams with a winning record (6) than any remaining Playoff contender.

Here’s another fun fact. Louisville has the worst loss of any remaining Playoff contender, and it’s not even close.

It feels like the latter continues to hold Jeff Brohm’s program behind 2-loss Mizzou. Is that fair? It depends on who you ask. The issue for Louisville is that as great as it is to be a 1-loss Power 5 team heading into Rivalry Week, the path to the Playoff is filled with roadblock after roadblock.

There are 5 Power 5 teams with unbeaten records, perhaps all of whom could suffer a loss in the final 1-2 games and still be ranked ahead of Louisville. Also, if the Cardinals beat FSU in the ACC Championship, the narrative will be that it only happened because of the Travis injury.

It wouldn’t have probably mattered a whole lot if Louisville switched spots with Mizzou following the win at Miami, but the fact that we didn’t even get that feels like the hay is very much in the barn on how the selection committee feels about that Playoff path.

5. Appreciate the fact that every conference feels like it still deserves a seat at the table

For the first time since Year 1 of the 4-team Playoff, every Power 5 conference is heading into Rivalry Week feeling like it has a shot. That’s the way it should be. That’s not the way it usually is.

But it’s good for the national popularity of the sport that there are 9 remaining Power 5 teams with 0 or 1 loss, and this is the breakdown by conference:

  • ACC: 2 (FSU, Louisville)
  • Big Ten: 2 (Michigan, Ohio State)
  • Big 12: 1 (Texas)
  • Pac-12: 2 (Washington, Oregon)
  • SEC: 2 (Georgia, Alabama)

When this system was created, some assumed that would be the norm. In reality, it’s been far more the exception than the rule. Will we get the chaotic weekend that this season has been waiting for?

Rivalry Week is as good a time as ever.