Where Utah landed in College Football Playoff rankings ahead of regular season finale

Utah’s come-from-behind win over a .500 team in Week 13 put into question the Utes’ College Football Playoff at-large bid hopes going into the final week of the regular season.

Tuesday’s CFP rankings reveal confirmed Utah would need quite a bit of help if it was going to earn a spot on the 12-team bracket without winning the Big 12.

The Utes (9-2, 6-2 Big 12) dropped from No. 12 to No. 13 following their come-from-behind victory over Kansas State, which rushed for 472 yards and led by as many as 12 in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s 51-47 final from Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Miami leapfrogged its way to the No. 12 spot heading into a pivotal ACC clash with No. 22 Pitt (10 a.m. MT, ABC). The Hurricanes (9-2, 5-2 ACC) needed a win to have a chance at playing for the conference championship. Utes fans, meanwhile, would prefer a Panthers victory with the hope that a third loss would knock Miami out of at-large contention.

Utah would probably like as much chaos as possible to ensue over the Thanksgiving weekend, especially if it involves other at-large contenders (any team around the No. 12 spot) losing.

An appearance in Arlington, Texas, for the Big 12 title game would give the Utes their best hope at punching a ticket to the playoff.

For that to happen, four scenarios would need to play out over the weekend: Utah would need to beat Kansas (Friday 10 a.m. MT, ESPN); Arizona State has to defeat Arizona (Friday 7 p.m. MT, Fox); BYU must take care of business against UCF (Saturday 11 a.m. MT, ESPN2); and (probably the least likely outcome of the bunch) West Virginia has to upset Texas Tech (Saturday 10 a.m. MT, ESPN).

That would set up a rematch between Utah and BYU for the right to be called Big 12 champions and earn an automatic bid into the College Football Playoff.

1. Ohio State (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten)
2. Indiana (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten)
3. Texas A&M (11-0, 8-0 SEC)
4. Georgia (10-1, 7-1 SEC)
5. Texas Tech (10-1, 7-1 Big 12)
6. Oregon (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten)
7. Ole Miss (10-1, 6-1 SEC)
8. Oklahoma (9-2, 5-2 SEC)
9. Notre Dame (9-2)
10. Alabama (9-2, 6-1 SEC)
11. BYU (10-1, 7-1 Big 12)
12. Miami (9-2, 5-2 ACC)
13. Utah (9-2, 6-2 Big 12)
14. Vanderbilt (9-2, 5-2 SEC)
15. Michigan (9-2, 7-1 Big Ten)
16. Texas (8-3, 5-2 SEC)
17. USC (8-3, 6-2 Big Ten)
18. Virginia (9-2, 6-1 ACC)
19. Tennessee (8-3, 4-3 SEC)
20. Arizona State (8-3, 6-2 Big 12)
21. SMU (8-3, 6-1 ACC)
22. Pitt (8-3, 6-1 ACC)
23. Georgia Tech (9-2, 6-2 ACC)
24. Tulane (9-2, 6-1 AAC)
25. Arizona (8-3, 5-3 Big 12)