Houston's First CFP Ranking Could Put Willie Fritz's Rebuild on a National Stage
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College football fans await the newest rankings: the College Football Playoff rankings. The AP Top 25 is finally going to be the less important of the two rankings, with the end stretch of the season coming up.
It will be interesting to see how the CFP committee views the Houston Cougars.
Will Houston Still Be In the Top 20?
The AP Top 25 recently moved up the Cougars one spot to No. 17 after a bye week. The highest the Cougars have ranked is No. 14, a week prior to the 21-13 loss to the No. 3 Utah Utes. It will be fascinating to see if the CFP committee still ranks Houston as high as the AP Top 25 does.
When taking into account quality wins, well, Houston has a good 35-32 win over the then No. 18 Oklahoma State Cowboys, helping its case for a high ranking. Now, Houston has two losses, but one was to the current 7-1 and No. 13 Texas Tech Red Raiders, and the other was to the undefeated No. 3 Utah.
Both losses were on the road and by one score, so they aren't as bad as some others. For instance, last week, the Ohio State Buckeyes lost on the road to an unranked USC Trojans team 30-18. That's not a very good loss to take. Being in the Top 12 by the end of the season will be critical for the Houston team, which likely won't reach the Big 12 Championship game.
It will need BYU to lose more, Texas Tech to lose twice as much, Utah three times as much, and still have as many losses as the Arizona Wildcats. In other words, going 10-2 and finishing ranked highly will be pretty important for Houston.
Why Houston's CFP Chances Are Much Higher Than Usual
At this point, having a Top 5 team lose is a weekly occurrence. As mentioned before, the Buckeyes are failing with two losses. The Ole Miss Rebels and Georgia Bulldogs are about to put each other in a troublesome position.
The Big Ten lacks a really, really good team this season. The SEC does as well. Even the Big 12 has one, at least for now, in Utah. What does this mean for the Cougars? It means that going 10-2 should easily be enough for a CFP bid. The two losses, as aforementioned, aren't bad at all.
Plus, the number of three-loss teams in both mega conferences, the Big Ten and SEC, by the end of the season may put the committee in a rough spot when choosing teams. But clearly, a 10-2 Houston team should go in over a 9-3 team from any conference.
Houston's season finale will be intriguing to watch. Houston got good injury news recently, even though the schedule doesn't jump off the page as particularly tough. In other words, this team can rally and push for the CFP.
Tonight, this big rebuild for head coach Willie Fritz and Houston will be showcased. Honestly, even talking about Houston and the CFP shows how remarkable their rebuild has been. The program's national perception will only get better tonight.
Will the Cougars lock in a huge patch of their schedule ahead that will define the season? We'll see, but it starts with a potentially dangerous Cincinnati Bearcats team this Saturday.
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Born in Utah, raised in Nebraska, and now living in the Northeast, Tyler Crum is a lifelong sports fan with a passion for college football, college basketball, Major League Baseball, and hockey. He attends the University of New Hampshire, where he is majoring in history. His work has appeared with Last Word on Sports, Utah on Ice, and Sports Illustrated. When he is not writing or watching sports, Tyler can usually be found reading a book on military history.
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