College Football Playoff: Sooners Drop Below Colorado at No. 9

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The College Football Playoff rankings for Week 14 of the college season all but eliminated the Big 12 champion from making it into top four on Selection Sunday.

Sep 3, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops walks off the field after a game against the Houston Cougars at NRG Stadium. The Cougars defeated the Sooners 33-23. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Oklahoma dropped below Colorado this week, to No. 9, followed by Oklahoma State at No. 10.

Michigan, previously No. 3 in the rankings, fell just outside of the top four in this week’s Playoff rankings after losing to No. 2 Ohio State in their annual rivalry game last weekend.

Washington, which plays Colorado on Friday night for the Pac-12 championship moved up one spot, to No. 3, and Clemson moved into the third spot after sitting in the precarious No. 4 spot a week ago.

Rounding out the top 10 in this week’s CFP rankings are No. 6 Wisconsin and No. 7 Penn State.

The only realistic path for Oklahoma to make a return trip to the College Football Playoff for a second consecutive season was for the Sooners to win the Big 12 championship and have Washington lose in the Pac-12 championship game and for Clemson to do the same in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game.

Even then, there was no guarantee that the Sooners would vault above Michigan or the loser of the Big Ten championship between Wisconsin and Penn State.

Now with Colorado moving ahead of the Sooners, the winners in both the Pac-12 and the Big Ten are assured of being ranked above Oklahoma in the final rankings, which would make all but impossible for the Sooners to break into the Final Four, and probably not any higher than six or seven.

It all comes down to OU’s two early losses to Houston and Ohio State. It wasn’t so much that the Sooners lost those games but the way they lost them that has resulted in Oklahoma being ranked below four other two-loss teams in the Playoff picture at this stage of the season.

Given where the Sooners stood on Sept. 17 (1-2 after losing to Ohio State), they should feel very good about making it all the way back into the top 10 and even having a glimmer of hope of making it in to college football’s Final Four.