| Team | In? | Status |
| 1) Oregon | In | They could conceivably lose both games left on their schedule and would be solidly in. 11-2 Oregon is in. |
| 2) Ohio State | In | Losing to Michigan most likely ends their season until the playoffs, and a loss to Oregon wouldn't be enough to rule them out. 10-2 or 11-2 Ohio State is in. |
| 3) Texas | In | Same situation as Ohio State - they will either win this week and face Georgia, or their regular season is over. 10-2 or 11-2 Texas is in. |
| 4) Penn State | In | A loss to Maryland would hurt them but I still think there just aren't enough teams that would keep them from an at large spot. |
| 5) Notre Dame | In | They could lose to USC and 10-2 should be enough to get them in. |
| 6) Miami | In their control | Winning out gets them in. Losing to Syracuse likely means they are out. Beat Syracuse but lose ACC Title game? Gets close. They may need help. |
| 7) Georgia | In their control | Georgia needs to beat either Georgia Tech or the Texas/A&M winner to make it. If they lose both games, they are solidly out with 4 losses. |
| 8) Tennessee | In their control | Beat Vandy and they are in. Lose to Vandy and good chance they are out. |
| 9) SMU | In their control | SMU has a relatively easy game against Cal to finish things up, but they will face Miami or Clemson. Lose the ACC Championship game after beating Cal, it's iffy for them as well. |
| 10) Indiana | In their control | Win against Purdue puts them in. Loss will eliminate them. |
| 11) Boise State | In their control | A loss to Pac-12 Champ Oregon or UNLV/Colorado State would eliminate them, but Boise should be a strong favorite. |
| 12) Clemson | Needs Help | Clemson finishes with South Carolina which would boost their resume, but they need Miami to lose to advance to the ACC Championship. 10-2 Clemson could sneak in with a bit of chaos. 11-2 Clemson gets the 3rd seed. 10-3 Clemson is most likely out, but having a win over South Carolina might have implications |
| 13) Alabama | Needs help | First they need to get past the Iron Bowl, and then they need a few teams to take losses. They are sitting in better shape if SMU, Clemson, or Miami could get eliminated. They also will be rooting for Georgia Tech. Indiana losing to Purdue would be quite the gift to them as well. They also need A&M to not win the SEC. |
| 14) Ole Miss | Needs a miracle | Should pick up an easy W in the Egg Bowl on Friday, but they are going to be behind Alabama and could slip behind South Carolina in the mix for the best 3 loss teams. It would take a lot of chaos to find a spot for them. Everything Alabama needs plus having Clemson beat South Carolina helps them. But Ole Miss beat South Carolina solidly, that might help them stay in front. |
| 15) South Carolina | Needs a miracle | A win against Clemson could boost their resume considerably. They do have heads up losses to Alabama and Ole Miss, so I'm not sure they'll have enough to sneak in. |
| 16) Arizona State | Needs help | The Big 12 situation is easy, whoever can win the championship most likely will get the 12 seed. However, Tulane is lurking. They are in a spot where they do not control their destiny even for winning the B12. It gets really messy if ASU, ISU, and CU win and BYU loses. Otherwise Arizona State is in good shape. |
| 17) Tulane | Needs help | Tulane could be a sleeper 12 seed in the mix. Is it possible that the Big 12 gets left out completely? If they win convincingly and the Big 12 teams slip, they could find their way in. |
| 18) Iowa State | Needs help | Like Arizona State, if they win they are in, except in some weird situations where BYU loses and ASU and CU win. They also need to worry about getting ahead of Tulane. I expect the B12 winner to do so unless all 4 contenders lost this weekend. Then it becomes a complete mess but no one from the B12 sees the playoffs there unless there's a single 2 loss team that wins it. |
| 19) BYU | Needs help | Needs more help to advance, they are rooting against Iowa State and Arizona State. Either of them lose they make the B12 championship. |
| 20) Texas A&M | In their control | Amazingly the Figthin' Texas Aggies control their own destiny. Even with the loss to Auburn, if they can finish the season beating their biggest rival and Georgia in back to back weeks, they will claim an automatic bid and be ahead of Tulane and the B12 champ. |
| 21) Missouri | Out | No chance |
| 22) UNLV | Needs a miracle | UNLV is hoping they can get one of the AQ berths if they can beat Boise. Will it put them above Tulane if they do it? It's at least possible. |
| 23) Illinois | Out | No chance |
| 24) Kansas State | Needs a miracle | It's possible they could win the B12 and get an AQ bid. |
| 25) Colorado | Needs help | Colorado needs either ASU and ISU to lose, or they need BYU to lose. If that happens, they will make it. They could potentially make the B12 title game with a loss but the AQ is unlikely |
| UR) Army | Needs a miracle | Army could potentially get in the mix if they beat Tulane in the AAC Championship game. They likely would need B12 chaos and something weird like UNLV losing Saturday and then winning the MWC. |
I don't think there are any other teams that you could find a scenario to make the playoffs. There are a handful of teams with 4 or 5 losses in the B12 that could still win the conference in a chaos scenario but I don't think they finish as a top 5 conference champ. Army/Tulane take one spot, and UNLV/Boise take the other outside of the ACC/B18/SEC. Colorado State winning the MWC is maybe the only chance that could happen.
