Each week of college football has brought more and more madness, and with each week, the College Football Playoff seems to look more and more different. Week 8 knocked a few contenders out of the mix and has strengthened the resume of some that no one thought would even be in it at this point in the season.
Week 8 saw yet another No. 1 ranked team fall as the Texas Longhorns fell to the Georgia Bulldogs, and Kirby Smart sounded off on everyone who doubted his team. The Big Ten is now leading the pack with three of the top five teams in the country right now, and the Oregon Ducks have taken over what seems to be the cursed No. 1 spot.
The SEC no longer has an undefeated team in the conference as each team just continues to beat up on each other, and the race for the SEC seems to still run through Georgia, but as this season has shown, anything is possible.
So, with another college football weekend on the books, here is my prediction on who will make the College Football Playoff at the end of the season.
Rank | Team | Why are they here | Previous ranking |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Oregon | Big Ten Champion | 3 |
2 | Miami | ACC Champion | 2 |
3 | Georgia | SEC Champion | 5 |
4 | Kansas State | Big 12 Champion | 4 |
5 | Ohio State | At-large | 6 |
6 | Penn State | At-large | 8 |
7 | Texas | At-large | 1 |
8 | Notre Dame | At-large | 7 |
9 | LSU | At-large | 9 |
10 | Tennessee | At-large | N/A |
11 | Indiana | At-large | N/A |
12 | Boise State | MW Champion | 12 |
For the fourth week in a row, there is a new No. 1 in these rankings as the Oregon Ducks find themselves as the latest team to reach that spot, but the question is whether or not they will stay there. The Ducks arguably played their toughest game of the season when they beat Ohio State, and while I have the Ducks as the Big Ten champion right now, that is subject to change even with an ugly win.
Miami was able to escape with yet another win this week as they continue to put up a lot of points, but the defense struggles to hold opponents out of the end zone. With the way the season is going, though, they are still one of the top teams in the country and, at this point, are the favorite to win the ACC, earning them the automatic bid from the conference.
The Big 12 is also showing some fight, with Iowa State and BYU winning some ugly games this week but staying undefeated. I still believe Kansas State will be able to win the Big 12, though, as both UCF and Oklahoma State exposed some of the flaws of both teams. The Cyclones fell out of the rankings this week with an ugly performance against a bad UCF team.
Tennessee made the entrance back into the ranking with a big win over Alabama, but they still have quite a few tough games ahead of them, and with one loss on the resume, another one could be the dagger in their CFP hopes. The biggest addition to the prediction this week is Indiana making their big entrance as one of the few undefeated teams left int he country. The Hoosiers are proving each week they are a threat and a tough team to beat in college football right now.