Interesting stories and much conjecture will come out of Tuesday's second CFB Playoff rankings. Current projections offer consensus for only the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Projections from five college football experts are used in this post: ESPN's Mark Schlabach and Kyle Bonagura, along with College Football News' Pete Fiutak, offer projections for the committee's second rankings on Tuesday night. USA Today's Blake Toppmeyer and CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli predict the Selection Committee's final rankings on Selection Sunday in December.
The consensus picks for Tuesday night are Ohio State at No. 1 and the Alabama Crimson Tide at No. 4. The ESPN picks include four SEC football teams. Texas A&M is projected at No. 2 and No. 3. Georgia is at No. 5. Ole Miss is projected at No. 6 and at No. 8. Pete Futial has six SEC teams in Tuesday night's rankings: Texas A&M is No. 3, Alabama No. 4, Georgia No. 5, Ole Miss No. 6, Texas No. 10, and Oklahoma No. 11.
Selection Sunday Prediction for the Alabama Crimson Tide, other SEC Teams
Alabama Crimson Tide fans will enjoy Toppmeyer's prediction that Alabama will go into the Playoff season as the No. 2-seeded team. Fornelli also has Alabama gaining a first-round bye as the No. 4 seed.
Both sources predict the SEC will have five Playoff teams. They have three Big Ten teams in the field, along with one team each from the Big 12 and the ACC. They agree that the other two Playoff slots will go to Notre Dame and South Florida.
Toppmeyer's other SEC predictions are Texas A&M at No. 4, Georgia at No. 5, Ole Miss at No. 7, and Vanderbilt at No. 10. Fornelli has the Aggies at No. 2, Alabama at No. 4, Georgia at No. 7, Ole Miss at No. 9, and Oklahoma at No. 10.
Predicting a final Playoff field almost a month in advance is bold. There is no way that either Toppmeyer or Fornelli will be 100% correct. For Alabama football fans, it is good to see the strength of SEC Football being recognized.