No. 8-ranked teams in the opening CFP rankings share a lot of common ground. Will Utes follow the trend?

TCU quarterback Kenny Hill throws against Stanford during the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28, 2017, in San Antonio. The Horned Frogs were ranked No. 8 in the first CFP rankings in both 2015 and 2017, but, like all other No. 8-ranked teams in the first week of the rankings, fell short of qualifying for the playoffs. | AP

SALT LAKE CITY — From a historical perspective, a No. 8 ranking in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season hasn’t led to a berth in the semifinals.

In fact, no team debuting eighth has even been ranked higher than that in the year-end listing.

That’s one challenge the Utah Utes face after checking in at No. 8 on Tuesday, their highest ranking since the CFP was created in 2014. It remains to be seen if the Utes (8-1) can move up with a season-ending schedule comprised of teams with losing records — UCLA (4-5), Arizona (4-5) and Colorado (3-6). A Pac-12 South title would mean a probable meeting with seventh-ranked Oregon (8-1) in the conference championship game.

Will it be enough to enhance Utah’s resume for a top-four finish? Could the Utes win the Pac-12 crown, go 12-1 overall and be left out of the CFP?

“That’s a ways off. There’s a lot of football left. But the structure of the playoffs right now, it’s certainly a possibility,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said on the Pac-12 Network. “That’s why I’m in the camp of thinking that every champion of each Power Five conference should have an automatic bid. But right now that’s not the case and so the bottom line is somebody’s going to be left out, so we’ll just have to see how things unfold.”

Over the first five years of the CFP, No. 8 teams in the opening rankings went on to win 11 games and finish with a bowl win — three in the Alamo Bowl and two in the Cotton Bowl.

Here’s how those years played out.

2014: Michigan State was No. 8 in the first CFP rankings and that’s where the Spartans sat on the last one. They ended up going 11-2 and defeated Baylor 42-41 in the Cotton Bowl.

2015: TCU slipped from No. 8 to No. 11 in the CFP rankings. The Horned Frogs went 11-2, finishing things off with a 47-41 victory over Oregon in the Alamo Bowl. It took three overtimes to decide the outcome.

2016: Like Michigan State two years earlier, Wisconsin was ranked No. 8 in the first and later final CFP rankings of the season. The Badgers concluded an 11-3 campaign with a 24-16 triumph over Western Michigan in the Cotton Bowl.

2017: TCU was No. 8 in the first rankings for the second time in three years. By the final listing, though, the Horned Frogs had tumbled back to No. 15. They posted an 11-3 record, including a 39-37 decision over Stanford in the Alamo Bowl.

2018: Pac-12 foe Washington State was eighth in the initial CFP rankings. The Cougars were 13th in the final. They went 11-2 overall and topped Iowa State 28-26 in the Alamo Bowl.

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