College Football Playoff Rankings 2014: Latest Odds and Dark-Horse Contenders

There was no movement this week at the top of the college football playoff rankings, but that isn't expected to be a trend.

With only the rivalry and championship weeks remaining before bowl season, every school in the championship picture still faces significant tests. According to ESPN Insider's Brad Edwards (subscription needed), there is barely over a one percent chance that all of the Top Seven teams run the table.

In other words, movement in the Top Four is coming. Let's take a glance at the current odds for each contender and some candidates to soon enter the mix.

Week 14 College Football Playoff Rankings

(Note: As the header indicates, the logo shown at the far right of each team's row is for that team's next opponent and not for the ranked team itself.)

Latest Odds

Dark-Horse Contenders

No. 6 Ohio State

Sitting at No. 6, Ohio State seemingly needs some help in front of it to crack the Top Four, but that might not be the case after all.

Of the four one-loss teams on the fringe, Mississippi State, TCU, Baylor and Ohio State appear to be nearly indistinguishable. Some are of the opinion the Buckeyes don't belong in that quartet because of their ugly loss to Virginia Tech, but as selection committee chairman Jeff Long suggested, via NFL.com's Bryan Fischer, that's not the case:

Looking forward, the Buckeyes have one very important factor working in their favor: a potential Big Ten title.

"Conference championships will be a tiebreaker factored in at the end of the season," said Long, via ESPN.com's Jake Trotter.

That's crucial.

Should all four of those one-loss teams win out, Ohio State and Baylor will be the only conference champions. Mississippi State wouldn't make the SEC title game, assuming Alabama beats Auburn, and TCU's loss to Baylor would keep the Horned Frogs in second place in the Big 12.

If conference championships indeed separate OSU and Baylor from the pack, the advantage goes to the former.

The Buckeyes are already ahead of Baylor, and that's not likely to change. Yes, the Bears have an upcoming contest against No. 12 Kansas State to boost their resume, but Ohio State could potentially match that with a win on a neutral field over No. 14 Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game.

ESPN's Travis Haney put it simply:

There are still plenty of variables that could change (three-loss Minnesota beating Wisconsin and going to the Big Ten title game, for example), but the Buckeyes are in seemingly fantastic position to sneak into the Top Four.

No. 8 UCLA

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

Those above situations assume UCLA loses again this season. If the Bruins win out, though, things are going to get real messy for the selection committee.

Yes, Jim Mora's squad has two losses, but it also has the toughest strength of schedule in the country. As ESPN's Alok Pattani explained, their strength of record may help the Bruins leapfrog some one-loss squads:

Moreover, UCLA has the most to add to its resume in the final two weeks of the season. A win over Stanford puts the Bruins into the Pac-12 title game against Oregon, giving them an opportunity to avenge one of their two losses and beat the No. 2 team in the nation.

ESPN.com's Sharon Katz argued the Bruins' case in that situation:

"

If UCLA beats Stanford and Oregon it will likely jump into the top four in Strength of Record. The Bruins would likely have the same record as Oregon but will have played a tougher schedule in achieving that record. Similarly, assuming TCUand Baylor win out, the Bruins would have as many wins as those teams but significantly more quality wins, including a victory against one of the top teams in the nation (Oregon).

"

This seemed impossible in early October when the Bruins followed up losses to Oregon and Utah with narrow, unimpressive wins over California and Colorado.

But they have responded with three thoroughly convincing victories in a row, holding Arizona's explosive offense to seven points, hanging 44 against a Washington defense with several future NFL players and dominating USC in the crosstown showdown.

The Bruins are unequivocally moving in the right direction.