College Football Rankings 2016: Overview of Week 12 Standings for NCAA's Top 25

It appears that in the world of college football, the mighty are not yet done falling.

After an upset-filled Week 11 saw Michigan, Clemson and Washington all suffer losses, No. 5 Louisville continued the trend of top-ranked teams stumbling toward the College Football Playoff with a 36-10 loss to Houston on Thursday night, a stunning precursor to what should be a pressure-packed slate on Saturday in Week 12. 

Louisville essentially learned that the Murphy from Murphy's law is a big fan of the Cougars. Everything that could go wrong went wrong for the Cardinals.

There was Malik Williams fumbling the opening kickoff, which led to Houston scoring on its first play of the game. The Cougars got the better of Louisville on a fake punt, and then scored a touchdown on a tipped pass that went careening right into the hands of a waiting Duke Catalon.

Houston also scored on a long double pass, and a marauding pass rush led by freshman defensive lineman Ed Oliver sacked the Cardinals' talismanic quarterback Lamar Jackson a staggering 11 times and forced him to fumble twice. 

There was seemingly nothing Louisville could do to stem the mayhem, and it should have the rest of the teams fighting for a spot in the College Football Playoff on notice. Anything can happen.

Here's a look at the CFP standings heading into Week 12, with playoff odds and projections by Ed Feng.

The Cardinals are likely out of the hunt now with losses to Clemson and a Group of 5 school in Houston—plus a few less-than-convincing wins. 

This opens the door for Washington, which has had a soft schedule but still own a clear path to the playoff by winning the Pac-12 championship.

With a very winnable game against Arizona State in Week 12, the Huskies could take one step closer. The Sun Devils have given up 180 points in their last four games, which bodes well for Jake Browning and company's chances of getting back on track after a loss to USC in Week 11.

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

The 10th-ranked Colorado Buffaloes also have a conceivable path to the playoff should they win the Pac-12 championship, as does No. 22 Washington State should it upset the Huskies in Week 13 and go on to win the title.

Ohio State was the big beneficiary of the spate of upsets in Week 11, as Urban Meyer's program moved up three spots and now sits at No. 2 in the nation behind Alabama. The Buckeyes should have little trouble dispatching Michigan State (3-7) on Saturday, setting themselves up for an epic showdown with No. 3 Michigan in Week 13. 

LandOf10.com's Corey Masisak noted the implications of that matchup:

"

Assuming No. 1 Alabama will not lose two games between now and when the CFP committee makes its selections, there are three open slots. Barring any stunning upsets of No. 7 Wisconsin and No. 8 Penn State, those two programs could play in the Big Ten championship game if No. 2 Ohio State defeats No. 3 Michigan in Columbus next weekend.

"

Chris Knight/Associated Press

Penn State of course needs to still take care of business against Rutgers and Michigan State, but that hardly looks like a problem at this point, with Rutgers playing some truly terrible football this season and the Spartans suffering through a down year. Wisconsin's only two losses thus far are to Ohio State and Michigan, so a Big Ten championship would likely put it in the playoff, potentially alongside another Big Ten team. 

Should Michigan beat Indiana on Saturday and then Ohio State, it would then be fixing to play Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game. A win there would open the door for a team from another conference to make the playoff. 

The Big 12 could find a representative in the playoff should chaos continue to reign. No. 9 Oklahoma plays No. 14 West Virginia in an important contest on Saturday, and ESPN.com's Heather Dinich noted No. 11 Oklahoma State is not out of the discussion just yet: 

"

Ah, yes, that pesky L next to the Central Michigan game. The two-loss Cowboys are just that in the eyes of the committee: a two-loss team. "We treat it as a loss," Hocutt said of the CMU game, which ended in controversial fashion. The question is whether Oklahoma State can overcome it with a Big 12 title. If the Cowboys finish with back-to-back road wins at TCU and Oklahoma, they could be back in the conversation. The win over a ranked West Virginia team is important, and the nonconference win over Pitt looks even better now.

"

While the Cowboys might still have a shot, Bleacher Report's Adam Kramer is picking TCU to pull off the win on Saturday:

Clemson can win the ACC's Atlantic Division with a win over Wake Forest on Saturday, setting itself up for ACC title game berth presumably against either North Carolina or Virginia Tech. The Demon Deacons have done little to suggest they will play spoiler this season, but that doesn't mean the Tigers will be taking them lightly after a shocking 43-42 loss to Pittsburgh in Week 11.

“We can’t lose to Wake Forest. We can’t lose again, period,” junior linebacker Dorian O’Daniel said, per the Post and Courier's Aaron Brenner. “That’s our mindset, from here on out. Although we lost to Pitt, it’s done with. We’ve just got to focus on beating Wake Forest.”

At the top, Alabama's options are fairly simple. It will make the playoff by winning the SEC championship, even if it drops a game between now and then.

Should they go undefeated but lose in the SEC title game, the Crimson Tide could still very well grab a spot, but it would seemingly depend heavily on how the Big Ten shakes out, as the conference could get two teams into the playoff to go along with two champions from the other Power Five conferences. 

Of course, many of these scenarios could become instantly moot by Saturday's end if more upsets are in the works. Louisville's loss has opened the door for a number of teams, but it also showed that the best teams in the country are vulnerable and have to bear down in the season's final weeks.