Roundtable: Who will be No. 4 in tonight's CFP rankings?

There was a lot of controversy following the initial release of the College Football Playoff rankings, most of which surrounded Texas A&M and Washington. On cue, those issues seemed to have worked themselves out thanks to an A&M loss, but will undefeated Washington move up to No. 4 in this week’s rankings? I asked our roundtable what they thought about the No. 4 spots in the CFP ahead of Tuesday night’s announcement.

WASHINGTON, BUT …

I don’t think there’s any question that Washington should be No. 4 in Tuesday’s rankings. It’s easy to look at UW’s 66-27 win over Cal and be blinded by all the points the Huskies put up. Oh, and QB Jake Browning’s six touchdowns. But the most impressive part may be the way Washington stifled Cal’s offense. The Cal defense is terrible. The offense is not. The only TD the Bears scored in the second half came when the game was 56-20.

Though that paragraph above is what I would do if I could make the top four. I have a creeping feeling that Ohio State will be the team that occupies the No. 4 spot. The one-loss Buckeyes have beaten Oklahoma, Wisconsin and now Nebraska after the shellacking of the Corn(huskers) on Saturday. Don’t be surprised if OSU is ahead of Washington based on strength of schedule. (Nick Bromberg)

[Cast your vote for Dr Saturday’s catch of the week]

O-H-HIGHER WE GO

I have to agree with Nick’s second paragraph. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least to see Ohio State move up to No. 4 simply because of the strength of its schedule. CFP chairman Kirby Hocutt said following the first rankings announcement that strength of schedule was what put Texas A&M above Washington and a one-loss Ohio State team has a similarly strong résumé.

Nick pointed out Ohio State’s wins, but according to the Sagarin ratings, Ohio State is No. 3 in strength of schedule and Washington is No. 5. According to teamrankings.com, Ohio State is No. 5 and Washington is No. 37. You can take all of that with a grain of salt, but it’s clear there’s a higher regard for Ohio State’s road to Week 11 than Washington’s. That’s why I think the Buckeyes will find themselves in the No. 4 spot.

Good news for Washington though, a win against USC this weekend will go a long way toward climbing back into the top four. (Graham Watson)

WASHINGTON OR I RIOT

I mean, it has to be Washington at this point, right? Washington should have been No. 4 last week ahead of Texas A&M. After a blowout over a decent Cal team to improve to 9-0, the Huskies are absolutely worthy of that spot.

Who would get the nod ahead of UW? Ohio State? With OSU’s loss to Penn State, that would not make any sense. Louisville? I could see the Cardinals sliding into the No. 4 spot more than I could see OSU, but there are four very good undefeated Power Five teams left: Alabama, Clemson, Michigan and Washington. The committee doesn’t need to overthink this one, especially after UW dropped 66 points on Saturday night (were they even awake for it?).

It has to be Washington, or I may start spouting off some conspiracy theories. (Sam Cooper)