Badgers Open Ninth In College Football Playoff Rankings

Wisconsin is ninth in the initial rankings that will end up determining the four teams in the College Football Playoffs. Unbeaten Georgia and Alabama are first and second on the list announced Tuesday night with Notre Dame third and Clemson fourth, both at 7-1. A half dozen 7-1 teams are grouped ahead of the 8-0 Badgers and 7-0 Miami in the nine and ten spots — and whether the U-W can rise to fourth is a matter of conjecture. On E-S-P-N, where the rankings were unveiled, analyst Joey Galloway said the Badgers were hurt by the fact Michigan is unranked — so Wisconsin will not get the lift it could have gotten by beating the Wolverines on November 18^th and maybe again in the Big Ten title game. But history says anything is possible after Ohio State started 16th in 2014, made the four team playoff, and beat Alabama and Oregon to win the national title.