It’s never too early to start thinking about the College Football Playoff field.
With this season’s playoffs expanding to 12 teams, we’ll plot the projected playoff field each week as the season progresses. Yes, the official playoff rankings won’t be released until November 5, but that won’t stop us from making our own guesses.
Without the CFP rankings as a guide, we will rely primarily on the AP Top 25 as our barometer to project the field. The CFP rankings and the AP poll typically show far more similarities than differences at the end of the season. This is what the provisional play-off field looks like after a weekend full of huge setbacks.
Goodbye to the first round
1. Texas (5-0, projected SEC champions)
The Longhorns regained the top spot in the AP Top 25 without having to do anything in Week 6. Thanks to Alabama’s loss at Vanderbilt, Texas moved up from No. 2. We thought the vote between Texas and Ohio State would be close, but it wasn’t. The Longhorns play in Dallas on Saturday in their annual rivalry game with No. 19 Oklahoma.
2. Ohio State (5-0, projected Big Ten champion)
Ohio State recorded a convincing victory over Iowa on Saturday. The Hawkeyes didn’t score until the backups came in for the Buckeyes in the second half. Jeremiah Smith recovered a fumble, but he also had a one-handed TD catch and the offense was no match for a very good Iowa defense. The Buckeyes travel to Oregon in Week 7 for a matchup of the top three teams in the Game of the Week.
3. Miami (6-0, projected ACC champions)
The Hurricanes needed a huge comeback to remain undefeated. Cal led 35-10 in the second half before Miami stormed back to earn a 39-38 win with less than 30 seconds left. The Hurricanes need to stop living so dangerously; they will certainly lose a game if they continue to need second-half comebacks as they have done in the last two weeks.
4. Iowa State (5-0, projected Big 12 champion)
The Cyclones pulled away from Baylor in a 43-21 home victory on Saturday night. Jaylon Jackson and Carson Hansen combined to rush 30 times for 204 yards in the win, while Jayden Higgins had eight catches for 116 yards. ISU has a three-headed attack with Jackson, Hansen and Abu Sama III, and Higgins and Jaylin Noel have caught 57 of Rocco Becht’s 87 completions. Iowa State has a good test in Week 7 at a West Virginia team that won easily at Oklahoma State.
First round games
No. 12 Boise State (4-1, projected MWC champion) at No. 5 Oregon (5-0, overall)
No one can stop Ashton Jeanty. The Boise State RB was at it again during the half against Utah State. Jeanty had 13 carries for 186 yards and three scores before watching the rest of the game from the bench. He had 25 carries for 192 yards and three scores against Oregon when the two teams met in Week 2. The Ducks were scheduled to host again in this rematch, but Oregon likely won’t be in fifth place after this week against Ohio State to have played. .
No. No. 11 Clemson (4-1, overall) at No. 6 Penn State (5-0, overall)
The Tigers are in the playoffs for the first time this season as they continue to win in convincing fashion after their Week 1 loss to Georgia. Clemson defeated Florida State 29-13 in Week 6 as Phil Mafah rushed 25 times for 154 yards. The Tigers have been much, much better on offense since that game against Georgia, while Cade Klubnik continues to play like one of the better QBs in college football. Penn State easily defeated UCLA 27-11 in Week 6 and heads to USC in Week 7 to take on a Trojans team that lost in Minnesota.
No. 10 Ole Miss (4-1, overall) at No. 7 Georgia (4-1, overall)
If these two matchups were possible at the end of the season, we’d be fascinated to see if the College Football Playoff selection committee would swap the seedings and see if the rematches could be avoided. Ole Miss will host Georgia in November, the Bulldogs have already played Alabama, the Tide goes to Tennessee in Week 8 and the Vols go to Athens later this season. If the matchups are inevitable, they would certainly be intriguing. Ole Miss had no problems at all against South Carolina in Week 6, while Georgia had a relatively uneventful win against Auburn.
No. 9 Tennessee (4-1, overall) and No. 8 Alabama (4-1, overall)
Both teams enter Week 7 with painful losses after the Vols lost at Arkansas and Alabama was stunned by Vanderbilt. Tennessee and Alabama are perfect examples of how tough life in the 16-team SEC will be for everyone. It will be quite an achievement if anyone can get through conference play undefeated and the only remaining teams without a loss in the conference are Texas A&M (3-0), Texas (1-0) and LSU (1-0).
