A cloudy College Football Playoff picture has been at least partially defrosted by recent results in the SEC and ACC, leaving at least four teams with a win-and-in road to the national semifinals and several others just one Saturday away from joining the top four.
Every team still in contention has pathways to the playoff ranging from the sublimely simple – as is the case with those four teams atop this week's rankings – to the deeply complex, with some in the latter group requiring the equivalent of chaos in November.
No matter how you map out these final weeks, however, there will be at least one spot available to a team currently outside the top four.