In the spirit of hope and teams on the College Football Playoff bubble outside of the selection committee’s current top 12, all paths to placement in the bracket begin with rivalry week victories for Miami, Vanderbilt, Texas, and Michigan. The Hurricanes and Wolverines are the only squads within that group still contending for an auto-bid as potential conference champions, albeit slim.

None of these aforementioned top-20 teams control their own destiny and need the chaos route to unfold to remain in the mix. However, who’s to say that doesn’t happen this week?

Texas hosts unbeaten SEC frontrunner No. 3 Texas A&M on Friday night, while No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 15 Michigan and No. 11 Miami vs. No. 22 Pittsburgh kick off at noon ET Saturday, followed by No. 14 Vanderbilt vs. No. 19 Tennessee in the afternoon. By Saturday evening, we’ll know how many of these bubbles have burst and the resulting playoff standings.

Let’s delve into the optimal paths for these teams looking to secure their spots in the playoff.