Alabama gets favorable draw in Week 1 CFB Playoff rankings prediction

In the first season of the 12-team playoff format, college football kicked off the year with some drama as a top-10 team went down in week zero. 

Over the next week, the rest of the country will kick off the 2024 season and we will officially be underway. With that being said, here are my week one College Football Playoff predictions:

Heading into week one, the only major shakeup in the Bama Hammer College Football Playoff prediction is the omission of Florida State, who lost to Georgia Tech in week zero. 

In the preseason prediction, I had Florida State slotted in at no. 4 as the ACC champion. This week, Clemson replaces the Seminoles as my projected ACC champion. For now, the ACC is pretty wide open and remains a one-bid league.

The SEC will be well-represented as usual, with Georgia as the champ and Alabama getting what could be a favorable draw as the first at-large team.

In the 12-team playoff format, the no. 5 seed will host the no. 12 seed, which is the worst team in the playoff and will be the G5 champion in most years. After a likely home win, the no. 5 seed will play the no. 4 seed, or the lowest-ranked conference champ. Other SEC at-large bids include Texas and Ole Miss. 

The Big Ten will also get multiple at-large bids in addition to champion Ohio State. I have Oregon and Penn State both getting into the playoff. 

I still have Kansas State as my Big 12 champ, with preseason favorite Utah also getting in with an at-large bid. 

Independent Notre Dame and Group of Five autobid Liberty round out my week one playoff prediction with Michigan, Tennessee, Miami, and LSU as the first four out.