ESPN reports that fourteen teams can win the college football playoff. Florida State and Florida did not make the list. We knew that was coming. If either FSU or UF won the national championship this year, too many miracles would have to take place. But Miami is a different story. First and foremost, we’re ranked in the preseason top ten.
Teams outside of the top fifteen generally don’t compete for national championships. A. they aren’t good enough to begin with. B. it’s hard for a team outside of the top fifteen to eek their way into the major bowl game, much less the college football playoff (think UCF).