Who's In? Pool Poll #8 Shows Lone Respect to UCF

In all likelihood the college football playoff will look like Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, and Ohio State, maybe Oklahoma instead of the Buckeyes. Here along the Ohio/Indiana border, I go with the more radical approach of putting all the teams who didn't lose. Once again the Knights of UCF plowed their way to another victory despite losing their best player. While the committee sends them to another New Year's Six Bowl, it certainly won't give the satisfaction of the Cotton Bowl.

Speaking of bowl games, Virginia Tech won to make it 82 bowl eligible teams for 78 spots which means four teams will be joining the likes of Nebraska, Tennessee, and Florida State, which any other year would be great company to keep.

Here's the conference breakdown first:

ACC: +1
Teams Ranked in Top 50: Clemson, NCST, Syracuse
Bottom Tier Teams (100-130): UNC, Louisville

AAC: +1
Top 50: UCF, Cincinnati, Temple, Houston, Memphis
Bottom Tier: Navy, Tulsa, ECU, UConn

Big 12: +3
Top 50: Oklahoma, West Virginia, Texas, Iowa State
Bottom Tier: Kansas

Big Ten: +3
Top 50: Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Iowa, Northwestern, Michigan State
Bottom Tier: Nebraska, Illinois, Rutgers

CUSA: +1
Top 50: UAB, North Texas, Marshall, Middle Tennessee State
Bottom Tier: WKU, UTSA, Rice, UTEP

Independents: 0
Top 50: Notre Dame, Army
Bottom Tier: UMass, New Mexico State

MAC: -2
Top 50: Buffalo, Ohio, NIU
Bottom Tier: Ball State, Akron, Bowling Green, Kent State, CMU

MWC:0
Top 50: Boise State, Fresno State, Utah State, Hawai'i
Bottom Tier: UNLV, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Jose State

PAC-12: +3
Top 50: Washington State, Washington, Utah, Stanford, Oregon
Bottom Tier: UCLA, Oregon State

SEC: +8
Top 50: Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Kentucky, Florida, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Missouri, Auburn
Bottom Tier; Arkansas

Sun Belt: +1
Top 50: Appalachian State, Troy, Georgia Southern, Arkansas State
Bottom Tier: South Alabama, Texas State, Georgia State

Top 25:
1.)Notre Dame (12-0, 52.5 WP, 0 LP)
Best Win: Michigan
Worst Loss: Not playing in a conference title game
Last Week: Bye
Last Week Rank: 1
Up Next: College Football Playoff Game?

2.)Alabama (13-0, 57.1 WP, 0 LP)
Best Win: Georgia
Worst Loss: Tua, but then you realize that Jalen Hurts is the back-up
Last Week: 35-28 over Georgia for SEC Championship
LWR: 3
Up Next: College Football Playoff Game

3.)Clemson (13-0, 58.2 WP, 0 LP)
Best Win: NCST
Worst Loss: Playing the weakest conference championship opponent.
Last Week: 42-10 over Pitt for ACC Championship
LWR: 2
Up Next: College Football Playoff Game

4.)UCF (12-0, 74.3 WP, 0 LP)
Best Win: Cincinnati (25 Straight Wins Currently)
Worst Loss: Playing in the AAC
Last Week: 56-41 over Memphis in AAC Championship
LWR: 4
Up Next: Probably the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl or something not the CFP.

5.)Ohio State (12-1, 55.3 WP, 68 LP)
Best Win: Michigan
Worst Loss: Purdue
Last Week: 45-24 over Northwestern in Big Ten Championship
LWR: 5
Up Next: CFP? Rose Bowl against Washington?

6.)Oklahoma (12-1, 61.4 WP, 19 LP)
Best Win: West Virginia
Worst Loss: Texas
Last Week: 39-27 over Texas in Big 12 Championship
LWR: 7
Up Next: CFP? Fiesta Bowl?

7.)Georgia (11-2, 62.1 WP, 8 LP)
Best Win: Florida
Worst Loss: LSU
Last Week: 35-28 blown shot at SEC Championship (Alabama)
LWR: 6
Up Next: UCF?

8.)Fresno State (11-2, 80.6 WP, 24 LP)
Best Win: Boise State
Worst Loss: Minnesota
Last Week: 19-16 (OT) over Boise State in MWC Championship
LWR: 11
Up Next: Bowl Game

9.)Washington State (10-2, 75.6 WP, 59 LP)
Best Win: Oregon
Worst Loss: USC
Last Week: Bye
LWR: 9
Up Next: Bowl Game

10.)Michigan (10-2, 76.9 WP, 8.5 LP)
Best Win: Penn State
Worst Loss: Ohio State
Last Week: Bye
LWR: 10
Up Next: Rose Bowl if OSU goes to CFP?

11.)Appalachian State (10-2, 91.4 WP, 14 LP)
Best Win: Troy
Worst Loss: Georgia Southern
Last Week: 30-19 over Louisiana in Sun Belt Championship
LWR: 16
Up Next: Dollar General Bowl?

12.)Cincinnati (10-2, 92 WP, 30.5 LP)
Best Win: UCLA
Worst Loss: Temple
Last Week: Bye
LWR: 12
Up Next: Bowl Game

13.)Utah State (10-2, 98.2 WP, 11.5 LP)
Best Win: BYU
Worst Loss: Michigan State
Last Week: Losing head coach Matt Wells to Texas Tech
LWR: 13
Up Next: Bowl Game

14.)Army (9-2, 81.1 WP, 32 LP)
Best Win: Buffalo
Worst Loss: Duke
Last Week: Bye
LWR: 15
Up Next: Navy (3-9, No. 110)

15.)Washington (10-3, 58 WP, 37.3 LP)
Best Win: Washington State
Worst Loss: Cal
Last Week: 10-3 over Utah in PAC-12 Championship
LWR: 19
Up Next: Rose Bowl

16.)Boise State (10-3, 66.1 WP, 30.7 LP)
Best Win: Utah State
Worst Loss: Oklahoma State
Last Week: 19-16 (OT) loss to Fresno State in MWC Championship
LWR: 8
Up Next: Bowl Game

17.)UAB (10-3, 84.2 WP, 67.7 LP)
Best Win: North Texas
Worst Loss: Coastal Carolina
Last Week: 27-25 over Middle Tennessee State in CUSA Championship.
LWR: 26
Up Next: Bowl Game

18.)Buffalo (10-3, 100.1 WP, 62 LP)
Best Win: Temple
Worst Loss: Ohio
Last Week: 30-29 loss to NIU in MAC Championship
LWR: 14
Up Next: Bowl Game

19.)LSU (9-3, 58.2 WP, 22 LP)
Best Win: Georgia
Worst Loss: Texas A&M
Last Week: Still recovering from 7 overtime loss.
LWR:17
Up Next: Bowl Game

20.)Kentucky (9-3, 73 WP, 52.7 LP)
Best Win: Florida
Worst Loss: Tennessee
Last Week: Bye
LWR: 20
Up Next: Bowl Game

21.)Penn State (9-3, 74.9 WP, 26 LP)
Best Win: Iowa
Worst Loss: Michigan State
Last Week: Bye
LWR: 22
Up Next: Bowl Game

22.)Florida (9-3, 76.6 WP, 38.7 LP)
Best Win: LSU
Worst Loss: Missouri
Last Week: Bye
LWR: 23
Up Next: Bowl Game

23.)NCST (9-3, 78.9 WP, 49 LP)
Best Win: Virginia
Worst Loss: Wake Forest
Last Week: 58-3 over ECU
LWR: 30
Up Next: Bowl Game

24.)Troy (9-3, 83.7 WP, 40.3 LP)
Best Win: Nebraska
Worst Loss: Liberty
Last Week: Bye
LWR: 24
Up Next: Bowl Game

25.)Syracuse (9-3, 86.6 WP, 36.7 LP)
Best Win: NCST
Worst Loss: Pitt
Last Week: Bye
LWR: 25
Up Next: Bowl Game

Dropped Out: Texas, Utah
First Five Out: Georgia Southern, North Texas, West Virginia, Texas, Utah