College Football Playoff: Building the perfect chaos scenario

6. Undefeated Wisconsin wins the Big Ten, makes the Playoff

Wisconsin’s schedule hasn’t been difficult enough this season. That’s the primary reason they were ranked ninth in the initial Playoff rankings despite being undefeated. If Iowa hadn’t pulled off a stunning upset against Ohio State in Week 11 the Badgers would likely have finished the entire regular season without playing a ranked opponent. Even with a win over No. 20 Iowa, the Badgers’ resume isn’t exactly star-studded with wins over FAU, Maryland and Northwestern.

The Big Ten East is going to be a much tighter race. Entering Week 11 every team in the division has at least two loses. Whether it’s Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan or Penn State that wins the East they’ll pick up their third loss against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game. That knocks them out of the Playoff conversation entirely and makes the win look even less impressive for Wisconsin.

That would leave Wisconsin, along with UCF, as the only undefeated teams left in the nation. The Knights are admittedly a tough sell, but there’s no way the committee could rationalize leaving an undefeated Power 5 conference champion out of their field of four. Which brings us to our perfect chaos scenario: two underwhelming undefeated teams, a one-loss Notre Dame without a conference title, and a derth of 2-loss teams with varying arguments for inclusion.