Tourney talk: Northwestern football’s path to the College Football Playoff - Inside NU
By Google News Sports ·
The College Football Playoff Committee released their first top-25 rankings just three days ago, and as controversial as this was, there are two monumental takeaways. - The SEC is held in as high of a regard as it was in the Nick Saban era, even after all the turbulence within the conference. - Besides Indiana and UCLA, the committee doesn’t believe in the Big Ten this season. The latter of those statements includes Northwestern, who despite being ranked No. 23 by the AFCA Coaches Poll, was dropped from the top-25 by the AP and the CFP after a one-touchdown loss to Oregon, who snuck in at No. 23 in the CFP rankings. That means it’s time for us to regroup and re-evaluate NU’s chances at making the tournament. With four weeks of the regular season left, time is of the essence for NU. Its playoff hopes are dwindling, but haven’t faded yet. There’s a still a small chance, but it’s going to take some elbow grease and a whole lot of luck. The good: Why NU was considered a CFP contender The buzz for Northwestern started after it took then-No. 5 Indiana to the brink of defeat, even after the slowest first half of offense it played this year. It started to show its clutch factor — scoring 16 points in the fourth quarter, the most an opponent had posted against IU in the Curt Cignetti era — and if it wasn’t for one fatal face mask penalty, that game could’ve went the other way. A win, and Northwestern would’ve immediately jumped into the polls. Instead, it got a singular vote from Greg Luca of the San Antonio Express. That wasn’t just pity. It was intentional, based on the tape produced by the Wildcats’ offense. In terms of system fit, Northwestern’s personnel is up there with any team in the country: a dual-threat quarterback in Aidan Chiles, two gritty yardage-eaters in the…
Originally published by Google News Sports
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