Is There a Path for USC, Texas and Michigan to Make the College Football Playoff?

Slowly but surely, the paths to the College Football Playoff are narrowing.

Following the latest unveiling of the CFP rankings, FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt isn't sure how many teams ranked after No. 10 Alabama have much of a lane to make the 12-team field. Klatt believes that 12th-ranked Utah and 14th-ranked Vanderbilt have "a bit of ceiling" on how far they can climb, thanks to their lack of marquee victories.

Of course, 11th-ranked BYU, 13th-ranked Miami (Fla.), 16th-ranked Georgia Tech and 19th-ranked Virginia are still alive and well in their respective conference title races, leading Klatt to point out a possible doomsday scenario for bubble teams. 

"[BYU] has the chance to play themselves into a Big 12 title game and then play themselves into the College Football Playoff, which would take one of these spots away and put Texas Tech into a conversation," Klatt said on his podcast, "The Joel Klatt Show." "Tech would win a lot of those arguments and that would be a mess. If you're Notre Dame, Alabama, Miami [or any team on the bubble], what you don't want to see is BYU continue to win and potentially win the Big 12."

As the conference races are sorted out, there are three teams currently on the outside looking in that Klatt has his eyes set on: No. 15 USC, No. 17 Texas and No. 18 Michigan. 

"Those three teams have ammunition on their schedule," Klatt said. "When you have résumé builders that are the caliber of USC at Oregon, Texas against Texas A&M and Michigan against Ohio State, then you can start to talk yourself into the idea of these teams potentially winning those games and potentially jumping themselves into the College Football Playoff."

So, would victories for those respective teams in