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2017 College Football Polls: USF Not Ranked in Latest College Football Playoff Rankings

The Bulls did not make the latest College Football Playoff rankings... but five(!) three-loss teams did.

By Nick Simon
NCAA Football: South Florida at Connecticut David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

USF's 37-20 win over UConn last Saturday was enough to earn them a spot in the latest Coaches and AP Polls, but not in the only one that matters at this point of the season. The Bulls were left out of the latest College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday.

The American is represented twice this week, with C. slotted at #18 and Memphis checking in at #22.

In fact... this is way off #brand for us, but let’s talk about C. for a minute, because this could easily be USF or someone else. If there's any indication that a Group of Five school has no realistic shot at ever cracking the College Football Playoff, take a look at our neighbors to the east.

The Knights have destroyed nearly everyone on their schedule, and by advanced metrics are a top ten, even top five ballclub. Yet after beating a good SMU team on the road by a touchdown, they still find themselves sitting behind eight(!) two-loss teams at #18. Meanwhile there’s another undefeated B1G team with just as many alleged question marks, but still clocking in at #8 this week.

Anyway... USF has a bye this week, so don’t expect them to crack the top 25 next week. Maybe they can finally get into the CFP rankings with a win over Tulsa next Thursday.

Other Notables:

  • Your Final Four if the season ended today: #1 Georgia vs. #4 Clemson (most likely in the Sugar Bowl), and #2 Alabama vs. #3 Notre Dame (most likely in the Rose Bowl). Bama travels to Starkville to take on #18 Mississippi State this Saturday, while Notre Dame could make or break its playoff case when they travel down to Miami to renew their storied rivalry with the seventh-ranked U. #PapiforGamedayGuestPicker
  • Oklahoma survived an absolutely bonkers Bedlam game to remain at #5. They host #6 TCU this Saturday, giving both teams a chance to make their case for the top four. Gee, it'd be really unfortunate if one team won this game and then three weeks later lost to the same team in the Big XII's totally unnecessary conference championship game, thus screwing the entire conference out of the title race.
  • Undefeated Wisconsin, who if you recall backed out of non-conference games against USF and Washington this season, is rightfully being ignored at #8. Good. They shouldn’t even be that high.
  • Speaking of the B1G, Sparty messed around and threw that conference into chaos by knocking off Penn State. They'll travel to Columbus to take on a wounded Ohio State this Saturday.
  • Five(!) three-loss teams made the top 25, including Northwestern, who I guess got a bump from Iowa and Michigan State pulling off upsets.