Despite tumbling out of the AP Top 25 Poll in Week 8, Northwestern football is ranked No. 21 in this year’s first College Football Playoff Rankings.
Northwestern’s early season wins over ranked opponents, Duke and Stanford, likely contributed to its CFP ranking. The Wildcats also dominated Minnesota in a 27-0 shutout and easily defeated Ball State and Eastern Illinois. Difficult losses to both Michigan and Iowa shook the ‘Cats, but a battle with Nebraska for a 30-28 win showed Northwestern is not done yet.
The Wildcats are 6-2 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten. Coming off a bye week, Northwestern will face Penn State at home this Saturday. They are slightly favored over the Nittany Lions, but it will be be a tough battle for both teams. Penn State also only has two losses this season: their first game to Temple and then to Ohio State.
Last year, the Wildcats defeated Penn State 29-6 at Penn State. If the ‘Cats win this weekend, they improve to 7-2 with three games left on the schedule. Two of those, Purdue and Illinois, are likely wins for the Wildcats with only Wisconsin remaining as a challenge. Given the fragility of the Wildcats, a loss to Penn State could also mean a loss to Wisconsin in two weeks. Either way, it is unlikely Northwestern football has a chance at winning the Big Ten West title given the strength of the Iowa Hawkeyes. However, more wins for the ‘Cats mean a more prestigious bowl game, something that could only serve to benefit Northwestern.
The rest of the Big Ten had a strong showing in the CFP rankings. Michigan is No. 17 and undefeated Iowa comes in at No. 9. Surprisingly, AP No. 1 ranked Ohio State is slotted at No. 3 in the CFB ranking, leapfrogged by LSU and Clemson. It is likely that AP rankings for Week 11 will start to look more like the CFP rankings, which means that win against Penn State will bring the Wildcats roaring back into the Top 25.
Originally published: http://isportsweb.com/2015/11/05/northwestern-football-ranked-in-first-cfp-rankings/