What We Learned From Tuesday Night's CFP Rankings + Jackets In Colorado Tonight

There really were not any surprises from the College Football Playoff Committee's rankings on Tuesday, as expected, the rankings were Alabama #1, Ohio State #2 after beating Michigan, Clemson stayed at #3, and Washington remained at the 4th spot after a winning handily on the road at Washington State.

There may be some chaos on championship weekend starting tomorrow night, but Kirby Hocutt who is the CFP Committee Chairman (and also the Athletic Director for Texas Tech) on Tuesday night made comments on ESPN that shed some light on the committee's thinking.

Hocutt: "The margin between #4 Washington and #5 Michigan is very, very small"

Michigan is still alive. I'd give them at least a 60-40 chance of getting the 4th and final spot if Colorado does beat Washington on Friday night (I do believe that Colorado has no chance, especially considering their 17 point loss to the Wolverines). While Hocutt's statement does give UM fans hope, there is no way Michigan overtakes Washington if the Huskies take care of business vs Colorado. What I don't like here is in my opinion, there is no doubt that brand/name recognition is a factor here. Michigan is a big name program that plays a lot of 3:30/8:00 games on ABC, while Washington is a west coast team that many times plays at 10:00 PM while many have gone to sleep. 

Hocutt: "They (Ohio State and Penn State) aren't close in the eyes of the committee"

Great news for us Buckeye fans. Ohio State is 90% safe. I said a few weeks ago on Twitter that a Penn State-Ohio State scenario with PSU winning the Big Ten concerned me (because OSU would have two strikes against them with head to head, and the Nittany Lions being a conference champion). But after hearing these comments, I am not not anymore, and also knowing that there is no way OSU will not get in if Wisconsin wins on Saturday (which may very well happen).

Blue Jackets at Avalanche, 9:00 PM, Pepsi Center, Denver, CO on Fox Sports Ohio

The Avs beat the Blue Jackets 3-2 in overtime the last time the two teams met on Nov 21. Colorado is in last place, and the Jackets had a disappointing effort that night, our power play was ineffective, turnovers and the CBJ weren't crisp passing the puck the whole game. The Avalanche have been plagued by lack of depth at the defensive position, which has lead to their misfortunes, along with the sudden resignation of head coach Patrick Roy early in the year.