College Football Playoff Rankings: Biggest Takeaways from Week 5

Think of college football as a season-long playoff, not just the College Football Playoff part. We go through elimination games every week, with some teams fighting to live another week and others going down, never to be heard from again.

Entering this week, there were 25 undefeated teams among the 128 in FBS. After Saturday, only 17 remain. Just one unbeaten team (Marshall) is from one of the "Group of 5" conferences, with the once-proud Big Ten also hosting only one undefeated squad (Nebraska, which joined up in 2011).

For the most part, teams contending for the four playoff spots escaped without incurring real damage. Florida State struggled to put away NC State, while Texas A&M had to rally late to beat Arkansas in overtime to prevent Jerry World from becoming Hog Heaven. No Top 10 team in the AP poll was upset this week.

With September finally done, college football officially gets out of the preseason portion of the schedule, with mostly intraconference games coming up. Other than eight SEC teams still with a game each against an FCS foe, all Big 5 conference teams will be playing only teams in their own weight class.

Here's a quick look at what's transpired in Week 5:

Teams that moved up

Texas A&M

The Aggies offense, stifled for most of the game by Arkansas, finally came alive just in time to save their season in overtime. The Hogs were pushing their way to an emphatic victory at AT&T Stadium but were done in by a botched center exchange and a missed field goal late in regulation.

A&M needed this win to stay afloat in the SEC West, easily the toughest division in college football. After all, Arkansas is considered the "weakest" and the only unranked team from the division.

UCLA

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

There were a lot of doubts about whether the Bruins were all hype and no substance after their lackluster start. But they silenced most of their critics with a thorough beatdown (as in 62-27) of previously unbeaten Arizona State in this week's only meeting between ranked teams.

The blowout victory puts UCLA back as the favorite to win the Pac-12 South and very much in the playoff picture. But the Bruins will have no time to relax with a showdown with Oregon looming in two weeks.

Stanford

The Cardinal, smarting from their early-season loss to USC, are climbing back into the thick of the Pac-12 North race with a hard-fought win at Washington. With a killer schedule that still includes Notre Dame, both Oregon schools and UCLA, this amounted to a must-win game for Stanford—not only for a playoff spot, but also a shot at a third consecutive Pac-12 title.

BYU

Though the Cougars had the week off, impressive victories by Virginia and Texas helped their cause. With no guarantees of any sort for either a playoff berth or a spot in the New Year's Six bowls, BYU needs any boost it can get from its Big 5 conference opponents.

Nebraska

The Huskers are the only Big Ten team that got through the month of September unscathed. And next week they visit Michigan State with a chance to vault into the national conversation. A victory there, and the near-loss at home against McNeese State might be forgiven. Maybe.

Conference	Teams
ACC (2)	Florida State, Georgia Tech
Big Ten (1)	Nebraska
Big 12 (3)	Baylor, Oklahoma, TCU
Pac-12 (3)	Arizona, Oregon, UCLA
SEC (5)	Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Texas A&M
Independents (2)	BYU, Notre Dame
Conference USA (1)*	Marshall

Teams that moved down

Florida State

Gerry Broome/Associated Press

Let's get this straight: As long as FSU goes undefeated, it will earn a spot in the four-team playoff. But right now it's not looking like it'll get the top seed, which may or may not matter at the end of the day.

But a close shave against NC State, with Jameis Winston back under center, shows that FSU has major vulnerabilities. And whereas a year ago the 'Noles blew every team out en route to the BCS title game, this year they're not showing nearly the same kind of dominance.

Michigan State

The Spartans won handily again, but with more evidence showing that the Big Ten is a college football wasteland, it doesn't help their cause. Even if they win out, they might end up not beating a single ranked team at the end of the season. It's looking more likely each week that the Big Ten will be shut out of the inaugural playoff field.

SEC East

Does anybody want to win this division? A week after a ghastly home loss to Indiana, Missouri is now the only team without a conference loss after rallying late to win at South Carolina. But just wait a week. Anybody except for Vandy can still win the East.

Duke 

A week after jumping into the polls, the Blue Devils will fall right out of it after a listless loss at Miami. They're still very much in the ACC Coastal race, but unless they can beat Florida State in the ACC title game, there won't be a spot for them in a New Year's Six bowl.

Boise State

Despite its season-opening loss to Ole Miss, it looked as if the Broncos still had a very good shot at a New Year's Six bowl berth. But Saturday's loss to Air Force probably ended any hopes of that. Boise State may still go on and win the Mountain West, but it's unlikely that the conference champion will be able to beat out the top team from the American.

"Group of 5 team" in the best position

East Carolina

The Pirates were off this week but got a huge boost with Boise State's loss. While Cincinnati has fallen from the ranks of the unbeatens, it still appears that the American champion will have the inside track to the "Group of 5" automatic New Year's Six bowl berth. 

Marshall is the only undefeated "Group of 5" team left, but with its weak schedule that features no opponent from the Big 5 conferences, it's a long shot for the Herd to snatch that berth.

Projected conference championship matchups

ACC - Florida State vs. Georgia Tech

Big Ten - Michigan State vs. Nebraska

Pac-12 - Oregon vs. UCLA

SEC - Alabama vs. Missouri