Every team in college football has the goal of finishing the season undefeated, but very few teams - if any - are able to accomplish that feat each year. Last season, three of the four College Football Playoff participants had one loss. Which teams that have already suffered a defeat are the most likely to make the playoff at the end of the season? Here are the top five one-loss teams:
5) Oklahoma Sooners
While most expected Oklahoma to win, not many expected a 55-0 blowout of Kansas State. It was surprising, given that Oklahoma was coming off an upset at the hands of Texas, while Kansas State nearly upset TCU the week before. The Sooners dominated in every facet of the game. OU recorded five times as many yards as Kansas State. The Wildcats completed only five of their 22 passes, while OU QB Baker Mayfield completed 20 of 27 for 282 yards and 5 TDs. Maybe it wasn't the most impressive performance this week, but it was the most dominant.
4) Florida Gators
Yes, Florida suffered their first loss of the season yesterday and will be without their starting quarterback Will Grier for the remainder of the season, but the Gators showed a lot of promising things in the defeat. Backup Treon Harris (271 pass yards, 2 TDs) showed that he has what it takes to lead the offense. Nearly upsetting LSU in a night game in Death Valley is no small feat, and they're still the front-runners in the SEC East.
3) Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Many wrote off Notre Dame after they lost QB Malik Zaire and even more did so after the Irish lost to Clemson. However, Notre Dame can still make a College Football Playoff run thanks to holding on to a 41-31 win over USC. ND has games against Temple and Pittsburgh, which will be a challenge since the two teams have just one combined loss. Wake and BC should be wins. That just leaves the season finale against Stanford, which is shaping up to be a College Football Playoff play-in game. If Notre Dame goes 11-1, is the CFP Committee going to leave them out? Probably not.
2) Stanford Cardinal
Stanford's season-opening loss to Northwestern was nothing short of disappointing, but they've been on a roll since then, blowing out Pac-12 contenders USC, Arizona, and UCLA. Running back Christian McCaffery has emerged as Heisman frontrunner along with Leonard Fournette and Trevone Boykin, and the defense is playing as good as every. The Cardinal will have to overcome the undefeated Utah Utes to make the playoff, something they're more than capable of doing.
1) Alabama Crimson Tide
The Crimson Tide ran all over Texas A&M, en route to a 41-23 win. A&M had no answer for Derrick Henry, who racked up 236 yards and two TDs in the game. Alabama never trailed in the game, and although Texas A&M tired to rally several times, it felt like Alabama's game the entire time. The Alabama defense picked off A&M four times, and this performance was nothing short of dominant.
It's now looking like their loss to Ole Miss was a fluke as they've re-emerged as the SEC favorite.
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