Heather didn't explain the easy part of the methodology to get to 31.
"According to ESPN Research, there are 28 teams with at least a 10% chance to reach the College Football Playoff this season. "
She could have just said that is the preseason FPI prediction.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/fpi
But the ranking order isn't explained, it has some "cfp committee secret sauce" factored in.
I found this interesting though - coaches hedging on being outside top 10 (with 3 losses?!)
..."how many teams can legitimately compete for the national title?"
"I think there's at least 10," Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said. "But the trick is, can you get those 10 teams into the 12-team field? That's the trick because there are some automatic qualifiers."
"Probably year in and year out, I guess 15, somewhere around there," Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. "I think when you look at last year, some of the guys who were right on the fence of getting in probably could have made a deep run. So my guess would be right around there, but it probably depends on the year."
"Is it 14 or so, give or take?" Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said.
"You may think I'm crazy, but I think 15 to 20," South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said.
"Maybe 10, 15," Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. "But are they healthy? There were some teams last year you might argue didn't have great seasons, but maybe they could have if other things would have happened."