Buffalo's road to the College Football Playoff - Preseason

The Road to the College Football Playoff looks at UB's national profile, and how far they need to go to gain the Group of 5 spot into a top bowl game, and how far they need to climb to gain an unprecidented spot in the college football playoff:

UB's Rank

SB Nation Bill C	108		Orlando Sentinel	82		Billingsley + MOV	99
CBS Sports	97		USA Today Myerberg	93		Sagarin	105
ESPN FPI	119		Massey	111

Average UB Rank: 102

UB's College Football Playoff Magic Number:

98

Based on average rank, UB would need to pass 98 teams to enter the college football playoff.

UB's Group of 5 Magic Number:

36

Based on average rank, UB is 37th of 61 group of 5 teams, thus UB would have to leap 36 to earn the G5 auto-bid to a top 6 bowl game.

The Top 10

#1: Ohio State - Big 10

#2 Alabama - SEC

#3 TCU - Big 12

#4 Baylor - Big 12

#5 Oregon - PAC 12

#6 - Georgia - SEC

#7 Michigan State - Big 10

#8 Auburn - SEC

#9 Ole Miss - SEC

#10 Florida State - ACC

The G5 Top 15:

#1: Boise State - Mountain West - #23

#2: Cincinnati - American Athletic - #42

#3: Marshall - Conference USA - #44

#4: Western Kentucky - Conference USA - #51

#5: Utah State - Mountain West - #52

#6: Memphis - America Athletics - #54

#7: Louisiana Tech - Conference USA - #55

#8: Toledo - Mid American - #57

#9: UCF - American Athletic - #58

#10: Navy - American Athletic - #59

#11: Northern Illinois - Mid American - #61

#12: Georgia Southern - Sun Belt - #62

#13: San Diego State - Mountain West - #64

#14: Colorado State - Mountain West - #66

#15: Houston - American Athletic - #68

New to the Poll:

Dropped Out:

The Bottom 10

#119: Kent State - MAC

#120: Army

#121: UTSA - Conference USA

#122: Miami (OH) - MAC

#123: New Mexico State - Sun Belt

#124: UNLV - Mountain West

#125: EMU - MAC

#126: Idaho - Sun Belt

#127: Georgia State - Sun Belt

#128: Charlotte - Conference USA

Dropped Into the Bottom:

Started from the bottom now they out:

UB's Schedule:

The Road to Bowl Eligibility: 9 Winnable Games (teams ranked below or within 20 of UB)

UB Ranked better: (Albany, FAU, CMU, Miami, Kent, UMass)
UB Ranked below but close: (Nevada, Ohio, Akron, 
UB Ranked below not close (Penn State, BGSU, NIU)

Schedule Projection:

MAC Standings:

MAC Rank	Division Rank	Team	National Rank
#1	West #1	Toledo	#57
#2	West #2	N. Illinois	#61
#3	West #3	Western Mich	#73
#4	East #1	Bowling Green	#80
#5	West #4	Ball State	#86
#6	East #2	Ohio	#91
#7	East #3	Akron	#100
#8	East #4	Buffalo	#102
#9	East #5	UMass	#109
#10	West #5	Central Mich	#111
#11	East #6	Kent	#119
#12	East #7	Miami	#122
#13	West #6	Eastern Mich.	#125

UB's path to Detroit:

Go undefeated in the MAC