Who’s Likely to Climb Into the CFP — and Who Could Fall Out?

Texas’ season hasn’t gone as planned, but the Longhorns could be sitting pretty after the first College Football Playoff rankings. Oregon, meanwhile, suddenly finds itself in a more precarious spot.

FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt sees 11th-ranked Texas as the team outside the 12-team CFP field most likely to get in. Conversely, he believes ninth-ranked Oregon is the team currently in the field most at risk of dropping out before the season ends.

Klatt even suggests that Texas’ 7-2 record and No. 11 ranking could give the Longhorns some leeway — essentially a "mulligan" — and still put them on track for the College Football Playoff.

"This ranking, the first thing that jumped out at me is that Texas, at 9-3, is almost alive, if not certainly in," Klatt said on his podcast, "The Joel Klatt Show." "Someone would have to fall out, but there are some teams above them that you could see losing a game or two and opening up a spot for Texas in the playoff."

That someone could be Oregon. While the Ducks are 7-1, they suddenly have three games remaining against teams ranked in the top 25 of the CFP poll. One of those teams, Iowa, hasn't been ranked in the AP Poll this season, and Oregon is set to take on the now 20th-ranked Hawkeyes on the road this Saturday. 

That game begins a four-game stretch for Oregon as it closes out the season with home matchups against Minnesota and 19th-ranked USC before taking on 23rd-ranked Washington on the road. Klatt is not only unsure if Oregon survives that stretch unscathed, but he also wouldn't be surprised if the Ducks have multiple losses.

"Of all the teams in the top 10 most likely to lose a game, and maybe even two, is Oregon," Klatt said. "I think very highly of Oregon,