It was another wild week of college football as we cross over the halfway point of the season and ever closer to the playoffs. How do the teams stack up? Is the Big Ten the best conference in college football? And what the heck is wrong with Alabama? Let's take a look at our most recent 12-team field projection.
Rank | Team | How They Made It | Previous Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
1. | Oregon | Big Ten Champion | 2 |
2. | Texas | SEC Champion | 1 |
3. | Miami (FL) | ACC Champion | 3 |
4. | Iowa State | Big 12 Champion | 4 |
5. | Ohio State | At-Large | 5 |
6. | Georgia | At-Large | 7 |
7. | Penn State | At-Large | 6 |
8. | Tennessee | At-Large | 8 |
9. | LSU | At-Large | 10 |
10. | Clemson | At-Large | 11 |
11. | BYU | At-Large | Unranked |
12. | Boise State | MW Champion | 12 |
Dropped from rankings: Alabama
Oregon takes over the number one seed as Texas fell to Georgia 15-30. Texas still holds the automatic bid though, and they face a slightly easier schedule than the Bulldogs to close out the season. Miami and Iowa State remain in the top four, and unless Clemson or BYU keep rocketing up the field, they'll likely maintain those automatic bids.
The Tide is not rolling as Alabama lost to Tennessee, kicking them out of the playoffs completely for now. That's two losses on the year now for coach Kalen DeBoer and the Tide with the next two games on the schedule being No. 21 Missouri and No. 8 LSU. Alabama is definitely not guaranteed to make the playoffs, especially with a third loss, and would be one of the more surprising outcomes of 2024.
BYU enters the fold for the first time this season and has a good chance to stay there. They are favored in every game remaining on their schedule, and barring any upsets, will make the playoffs as an at-large bid, or maybe even as the Big 12 champion.
The SEC is down to only four schools in the playoff prediction, with the Big Ten right behind them with three. The Big 12 and ACC each have two schools represented and Boise State is the lone representative from the Mountain West and Group Five.