How much pressure are the first round CFP teams under?

The clock is slowly ticking towards the start of the College Football Playoff when Indiana and Notre Dame get things going in South Bend next Friday night.

Throughout the weekend, all eyes will be on that game and the three others taking place in State College, Austin and Columbus. With more eyes, comes more pressure on each of the eight teams in action this weekend.

So let's rank each program playing in the first round based on how much pressure they are under to win and advance.

8. Tennessee

Compared to the other seven teams playing, a loss for the Vols won’t hurt as much.

Tennessee is making their first-ever appearance in the Playoff under current head coach Josh Heupel and with an offense in the top eight in scoring and a defense in the top five in points allowed, this is the strongest team he has fielded yet.

A loss in Columbus will hurt, but he will have at least two more years with quarterback Nico Iamaleava and plenty of talent at the skill positions in those future seasons.

7. Indiana

You don’t need a search engine to tell you how remarkable this run has been for Curt Cignetti and the Hoosiers.

At a point in the year when most of the fanbase began to focus more on the basketball squad, Memorial Stadium was almost at full capacity for a game against a 1-11 Purdue team with a dusting of snow on the ground.

But despite their 11-1 record, their lone game against a ranked opponent was a 23-point loss to Ohio State. It is a big reason why they aren’t hosting a playoff game and why some people were questioning whether they should be ranked this high, to begin with.

A win over in-state foe Notre Dame would prove to all the doubters that this team could be more than a one-year wonder and be a perennial contender for years to come.

6. SMU

Speaking of teams with questions about their playoff inclusion, there was no bigger debate last Sunday than whether SMU should have stayed ahead of Alabama after almost coming back from 17 points down to beat Clemson in the ACC title game.

They did and their reward was to travel to Penn State after a season that included a conference change, a quarterback change, over 10,000 miles of travel and no television revenue for the season and the eight following.

It is simply remarkable how Rhett Lashlee has gotten his squad to this point. But they aren’t exactly playing with house money.

A good showing in Beaver Stadium at the minimum would justify the Mustangs’ inclusion in the playoff and clear an easier path for teams with similar resumes in the future.

5. Texas

If one painful loss to Georgia wasn’t enough, up the ante by ten with an overtime loss in the conference championship where Carson Beck doesn’t play past the first half.

The consolation prize for the Longhorns is a game in Austin hosting Clemson. The path is favorable for Steve Sarkisian’s squad to get to the semifinals where last year’s squad came up just short against Washington.

While Texas has just as good of a future as Tennessee with Arch Manning poised to be the signal caller next season, a first-round exit with NFL-level talent like Quinn Ewers, Isaiah Bond, Gunnar Helm, and Silas Bolden would feel like a wasted season for the Longhorns.

All the ingredients are there for Texas to capture its first title in 19 years. It all comes down to whether they can finally put it all together to end the near two-decade drought.

4. Clemson

While the Longhorns’ title window is wide open, Clemson’s seems to be closing more and more every year.

The ACC used to be an annual cakewalk for the Tigers in the mid to late 2010s but just last week they needed a walk-off field goal from Nolan Hauser to survive a comeback from SMU.

This game will say a lot about Dabo Swinney and the future of Tiger football. He is the only coach outside of a service academy to not take any talent out of the transfer portal.

An upset over the fifth seed in Austin could show everyone that Dabo has not let the game pass him by and maybe, just maybe, Clemson’s glory days are not totally behind them.

3. Notre Dame

Remember when the Fighting Irish lost to NIU?

The team that fell to the Huskies and the team that is hosting Indiana this weekend are almost completely different. They have looked so dominant in recent weeks that outside of Oregon you could argue that they have looked the best in the country.

But the narrative in the playoff era is that they can’t win in the big games.

With the best team that Marcus Freeman has had yet, if they can’t win now then when?

2. Penn State

Penn State is the biggest winner of the playoff bracket this year.

They drew SMU at home and with a win there they would play Boise State in the next round.

While the semifinals could be an easy lock with James Franklin’s group, remember that he is only 13-28 against ranked teams. Making it that far would be a big weight off his shoulders, but a loss would only cause more fans to call for his firing, especially in a year where the chips fell in his program’s favor.

1. Ohio State

With the most expensive roster in the game, the Buckeyes came up short for the fourth straight time in The Game.

Could you imagine what the backlash would be if Ohio State lost to Tennessee in a home playoff game?

There is no one in the sport who needs this win more than Ryan Day.

A failure to earn a rematch with Oregon in the Rose Bowl could certainly be enough for him to lose his job.

Chase Fisher is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ctf5198@psu.edu.