Five college football teams under the most pressure in Week 11

The first College Football Playoff rankings are out. The weeks are dwindling. The field of actual contenders has already shrunk significantly. And the margin for error is almost nil for most teams still in the hunt.

It's hard to beat the month of November in college football.

With that said, these are the teams under the most pressure in Week 11.

1. Oregon

The Ducks (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) are ranked No. 6 in the AP poll but No. 9 in the first CFP rankings, as the committee clearly didn't feel as strongly about their resume so far.

And understandably so.

Oregon's only win over a ranked opponent this season was the overtime victory at Penn State at the end of September, and with the Nittany Lions' decline since then, it no longer carries a lot of weight at this point.

In their toughest game of the season, the Ducks lost at home by 10 to Indiana.

What that means is that it might be challenging for Oregon to stay in the playoff hunt without winning out. There's a high probability that undefeated Ohio State and Indiana cruise into the Big Ten championship game.

The Ducks are positioned now for a CFP at-large berth if they win out, starting this week at Iowa (No. 20 in the CFP rankings), vs. Minnesota, vs. No. 19 USC and at No. 23 Washington.

The unknown is what happens if Oregon loses one of those games -- would winning the other two ranked matchups be enough to bolster the Ducks' resume and get it through as a two-loss team?

Coach Dan Lanning surely doesn't want to have to roll the dice and find out. Missing the playoffs would be a major disappointment for a program that has been on a steady rise under Lanning and has invested significantly to win now.

Iowa (6-2, 4-1) is as tough as any place to play in the Big Ten, though. The Hawkeyes have lost just one home game each of the last three seasons (including this year to Indiana) and are playing for their season, too. This won't be easy for the Ducks.

College football teams under the most pressure in Week 11. — Texas Tech Red Raiders quarterback Behren Morton (2) drops back to pass during the second quarter against the Kansas State Wildcats at Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium. Credit: Scott Sewell-Imagn Images | Scott Sewell-Imagn Images

2. Texas Tech

The Red Raiders (8-1, 5-1) are No. 8 in the CFP rankings (No. 9 AP), and while all evidence suggests they are one of the top teams in college football this year, they took a loss at Arizona State while starting quarterback Behren Morton was sidelined.

As a result, another defeat would put Texas Tech at risk of being squeezed out of the Big 12 championship game, setting up a high-stakes showdown at home on Saturday against 8-0 BYU (No. 7 CFP, No. 8 AP).

With BYU controlling its path to the conference title game, Cincinnati, with just one conference loss, and a glut of teams with two league losses (including Arizona State, which holds a tiebreaker from the head-to-head result), it gets messy for the Red Raiders if they lose on Saturday.

The Big 12 only had one team in the CFP last year, and while Texas Tech has won its eight games by 23 points or more, its only ranked win is over Utah. The Red Raiders wouldn't be outright eliminated by losing to one of the four remaining undefeated teams in college football, but it would certainly complicate their playoff picture as they close the season against UCF and West Virginia, and they would not have many opportunities to bolster their case further.

There is a little less pressure on BYU, which could lose on Saturday and still control its path to the Big 12 championship game with a remaining head-to-head matchup with Cincinnati on the schedule.

Memphis and Tulane play in a pivotal AAC clash Saturday. — Memphis Tigers quarterback Brendon Lewis (2) scrambles against the Rice Owls in the second quarter at Rice Stadium. Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images | Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

T3. Tulane and Memphis

The most compelling conference race that most college football fans aren't paying attention to is in the AAC. The highest-ranked Group of Five conference champion gets a berth into the CFP, and that's likely to be the winner of the AAC.

And right now, there is an absolute logjam atop the conference standings, with Memphis, Tulane, South Florida, North Texas, Navy, and East Carolina all having just one AAC loss.

That means this clash between Memphis (8-1, 4-1) and Tulane (6-2, 3-1) in Memphis on Friday night is almost assuredly an elimination game for the loser.

The Tigers are 3.5-point favorites.

5. Missouri

Missouri (6-2, 2-2 SEC) has no choice but to win out if it wants to sneak into the playoffs. The Tigers are No. 22 in the CFP rankings (No. 19 AP) and close vs. No. 3 Texas A&M on Saturday, followed by Mississippi State, at No. 12 Oklahoma (No. 11 AP) and at Arkansas.

That's enough opportunity to surge up the CFP rankings.

But any loss, and those hopes are off the table for the Tigers. No three-loss team received an at-large playoff berth last year, and that shouldn't change in 2025.

Missouri is starting true freshman Matt Zollers on Saturday in place of injured starting quarterback Beau Pribula, which puts even more pressure on the Tigers' rushing attack led by Ahmad Hardy (fourth nationally with 937 rushing yards) and its top 5 defense (245.8 yards per game allowed) in a daunting matchup with the unbeaten Aggies.