12-Team College Football Playoff Prediction After Week 9
There were a lot of close calls this week as many of the current playoff teams escaped disaster. Penn State needed a second half comeback against Wisconsin, and Ohio State shockingly just scraped by Nebraska. Texas snuck by Vanderbilt by three points and Boise State won by five to keep the Group Five crown. In the end, not a lot changed in the bracket, but just 10 or 12 total points going the other way could have blown up the whole thing. Let's get into some predictions.
Rank | Team | How They Made It | Previous Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
1. | Oregon | Big Ten Champion | 1 |
2. | Georgia | SEC Champion | 6 |
3. | Miami (FL) | ACC Champion | 3 |
4. | Iowa State | Big 12 Champion | 4 |
5. | Ohio State | At-Large | 5 |
6. | Texas | At-Large | 2 |
7. | Penn State | At-Large | 7 |
8. | Tennessee | At-Large | 8 |
9. | Notre Dame | At-Large | Unranked |
10. | Clemson | At-Large | 10 |
11. | BYU | At-Large | 11 |
12. | Boise State | MW Champion | 12 |
Dropped from rankings: LSU
There wasn't tons of movement in these week's updated projection. The biggest movers were Georgia, who climbs back into the automatic SEC bid, and Notre Dame, who's dismantling of Navy shot them up the rankings. Texas now drops down to an at-large bid after an uninspiring, close victory over Vanderbilt.
LSU has dropped out of the playoff picture after their epic collapse against Texas A&M. The Tigers had a 17-7 lead at half only to be outscored 31-6 in the second. Their next game, in two weeks against Alabama, is probably the most important game of the year for them in terms of getting back into the playoff.
Next week should see some movement among the teams with big matchups on the horizon. No. 3 ranked Penn State takes on No. 4 Ohio State in a Big Ten showdown and bubble teams like Texas A&M and Alabama will be looking to solidify their spot as we head down the back nine of the season.
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