Big Ten College Football Playoff: favorites, contenders, dreamers in Week 6

Fresh off a pair of CFP titles, the Big Ten is looking to place as many teams as possible in the field again. With the league virtually guaranteed of three teams and hopeful of adding four, here's a check of the Big Ten's hopefuls, divided into favorites, contenders, and dreamers.

Favorites

Ohio State

The 4-0 Buckeyes took care of business at Washington winning a 24-6 decision. They still have to host Penn State and go to Michigan, but Ohio State seems worthy of the 86.7% CFP shot bestowed upon them by ESPN's FPI numbers.

Oregon

A win over Penn State paves the Ducks' CFP path very neatly. At 5-0, Ohio State gets an 86.9% shot at the Playoff per FPI. Indiana and USC at home are probably the toughest challenges still ahead for Oregon. More than one regular-season loss would be fairly shocking.

Indiana

Yes, the Hoosiers earned their spot on the favorites list after a win over Iowa. A 5-0 Indiana team figures to still get stringent tests on the road at Oregon and Penn State, but there's not a ton more meat on this schedule. The third toughest game is probably at Maryland. A 10-2 Indiana team would make the CFP field, so the 69.1% chance from ESPN is deserved.

Contender

Michigan

The Wolverines are the lone Big Ten team that fits here. They've got a 34.5% CFP shot by FPI reckoning. Yes, the loss to Oklahoma stands, but other than Ohio State in the finale, it's a fairly reasonable Big Ten slate with at USC in Week 7 as the toughest other challenge. A 9-3 Michigan team would likely fall right on the dividing line between in and out of the CFP.

Dreamers

Penn State

The Nittany Lions took a tough home loss and still have to go to Iowa, Ohio State, and Michigan State in the schedule ahead. Indiana and Nebraska will both come to State College as well. There's still a path there, but the PSU offense will need to improve significantly.

USC

The Trojans took a tough loss to Illinois, which gives them a tough path to the Playoff. They're off this week, but then play Michigan and Notre Dame in the next two weeks, with a road trip to Oregon still ahead in November. At 4-1, there's still a CFP path for the Trojans (21% chance according to FPI), but it's tougher than the teams above them.

Illinois

Did Illinois's beat-down loss to Indiana eliminate them from the CFP? Not quite, although ESPN isn't bullish on it (12.1% shot in FPI). Illinois still has to play Ohio State, but doesn't have a bad schedule after that.