It was crazy, and it could’ve been crazier.

Week 7 nearly had 13 Associated Press Top 25 teams fall. I’m not sure what the record is for that in a weekend, but I think that would’ve taken the cake. Lord knows plenty of SEC fans were rooting for Notre Dame and UCF to help make that happen, though neither team fell.

We still did see seven top-25 teams suffer losses on Saturday, four of which were actually ranked in the top-8 entering the day. Here were those matchups:

  • No. 2 Georgia — lost 36-16 at No. 13 LSU
  • No. 6 West Virginia — lost 30-14 at Iowa State
  • No. 7 Washington — lost 30-27 in overtime at No. 17 Oregon
  • No. 8 Penn State — lost 21-17 vs. Michigan State

Yeah, that has a pretty significant Playoff impact. With the first Playoff poll a couple weeks away, Saturday felt like an important day for how we’re going to view the latter half of the season. It was the “everyone can beat everyone” day. Even teams like Ohio State struggled far more than usual.

But for the sake of this discussion, let’s stick with the four top-8 teams that went down on Saturday.

The Georgia-LSU impact

Let’s start with the obvious. Even with a blowout loss, Georgia still controls its own destiny to a Playoff spot. And thanks to the improvements from Florida and Kentucky, the Dawgs are in the midst of a stretch of what will be three straight games against ranked foes. A few wins against Top-25 teams including a potential SEC championship — all away from Sanford Stadium — would still be enough to make the field.

I don’t buy the belief that Georgia can make the Playoff without an SEC Championship anymore. LSU, on the other hand? I’m not ruling that out just yet, even though the Tigers have a loss already, and not winning the conference would mean that they would have two.

Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

LSU picked up its third win against a top-10 opponent on Saturday. If the Tigers beat Mississippi State and Texas A&M, that would potentially be five wins vs. Top 25 teams. That would likely be as much as any team in the country.

If LSU suffered another loss to Alabama and had its SEC West path blocked, obviously the Playoff odds would take a massive hit. But because of how good the Tigers’ résumé could potentially be, I’d say they could at least root for some chaos.

For what it’s worth, Miami and Auburn both losing to unranked teams probably hurt LSU’s résumé a bit.

But you know what helped it? Beating the No. 2 team in America by 20.

Wait … is West Virginia done?

Technically, no. I’m not a believer in saying a Power 5 team that loses one conference game on the road is definitely done.

But what’s important to remember with the Mountaineers is that they were the lowest-ranked Power 5 unbeaten for a reason. Their nonconference schedule ended up being weaker than originally expected because of the canceled game at N.C. State. That means the Mountaineers’ best win was at Texas Tech, which spent a week at No. 25 before bouncing out.

Will Grier’s squad isn’t necessarily blocked from a Big 12 Championship, but they’re now at least looking at needing six straight victories with that backloaded schedule just to have a chance at a Playoff berth. And keep in mind, that would likely include beating both Oklahoma and Texas, as well as a potential Big 12 Championship Game against one of them.

Again, that’s just to have a chance. I’m not sold on West Virginia controlling its own destiny. I think if we’re talking about a potential Big 12 Championship play-in game for the Playoff, it’ll be because we had chaos.

As we were reminded on Saturday, that can happen any given week.

Penn State and Washington are DONE

Sorry, but two-loss teams without key nonconference wins and a chance for several more legitimate top-10 wins are done. Two teams that faced off in a New Year’s 6 Bowl last year will not be facing off in the Playoff this year.

But you knew this.

So how many SEC teams are still alive for the Playoff?

I thought you’d never ask. It’s really the same number that we entered the day with. Five. Go figure that three of them are from the SEC East. That’s as many as any other Power 5 conference.

Including the SEC teams, here’s everyone who I believe has an actual chance to make the Playoff if they run the table (by conference):

ACC

  • Clemson
  • Duke
  • N.C. State

Big 12

  • Oklahoma
  • Texas
  • West Virginia

Big Ten

  • Iowa
  • Michigan
  • Ohio State

Pac-12

  • Colorado
  • Oregon
  • Washington State

SEC

  • Alabama
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Kentucky
  • LSU

Independent/Group of 5

  • Notre Dame
  • UCF

So that’s still 19 teams who theoretically still have at least a sniff of a Playoff possibility if they win out. And again, that’s not saying they’re definitely in, but I’m not eliminating any of those teams just yet. We’re in Year 5 of the Playoff system, which means we should realize that one loss for a Power 5 team isn’t a death sentence.

That number will obviously decrease next week, and not just via the two games involving four of those teams. It wouldn’t surprise me if the field of 19 Playoff-eligible teams is down to 10 by the time the first selection show rolls around in a couple weeks.

Who knows? Maybe Week 8 will produce a Saturday even crazier than Week 7. Maybe we actually will see 13 Top 25 teams go down and really make this thing interesting.

It’s about time we start getting some chaos.