FORT COLLINS — After Colorado State finished its Tuesday practice in Hughes Stadium, and after Rams coach Jim McElwain had met with the media, the word came that the 9-1 Rams — No. 22 in the latest Associated Press media poll and No. 23 in the USA Today/coaches poll — still hadn’t cracked the College Football Playoff top 25 rankings.
“I guess I won’t say we’re disappointed,” quarterback Garrett Grayson said. “But it’s the ranking we are trying to get in to. It’s the one that means the most, so it’s the one everybody’s kind of trying to fight for. I think if we go out and win these next two games, I think we’ll have a good chance at it.”
The Rams face New Mexico Saturday at Hughes Stadium then are at Air Force on Nov. 28. If they win both games and Boise State loses to either Wyoming Saturday or Utah State on Nov. 29, CSU would win the Mountain Division and be the host of the Dec. 6 Mountain West Conference championship game.
The CFP comes into play because that committee rankings determine the four teams for the national semifinal games and the teams for the other four “access” bowls, and the highest-ranked champion from a “non-power” conference gets one of the berths.
So even if no non-power conference team is in the CFP top 25, the committe still will select a team from the American Athletic, Mountain West, Conference USA, Mid-American or Sun Belt. CSU would have to win the Mountain West to be considered, and that almost certainly would take a 12-1 record.
Marshall (10-0) of Conference USA is 18th in both the AP and USA Today rankings. The Thundering Herd has UAB and Western Kentucky remaining in the regular season, and then probably Louisiana Tech in the conference championship game.
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or
