Week 1 12-team College Football Playoff prediction
With week one just about in the books, the College Football Playoff picture looks a little clearer despite there being only a handful of marquee matchups over the weekend.
For the most part, our picks have remained fairly consistent. Georgia, Miami, Notre Dame, and Penn State all earned impressive victories away from home to cement their spots in the field.
Oregon struggled mightily but ultimately survived against lowly Idaho, and my expectation is that the Ducks will begin to look much better going forward. Meanwhile, the rest of the 12 playoff teams dominated inferior competition.
Seed | Team | Bid Status |
|---|---|---|
1 | Georgia | SEC Champion |
2 | Ohio State | Big Ten Champion |
3 | Kansas State | Big 12 Champion |
4 | Miami | ACC Champion |
5 | Alabama | At-large |
6 | Penn State | At-large |
7 | Notre Dame | At-large |
8 | Texas | At-large |
9 | Oregon | At-large |
10 | Ole Miss | At-large |
11 | Utah | At-large |
12 | Liberty | Highest-ranked G5 Champ |
The only major change in this week’s prediction is the inclusion of Miami, who replaces Clemson as my projected ACC champ. Though Clemson’s non-conference loss and Miami’s non-conference win will not impact league standings, the displays put on by both teams were enough to move the Hurricanes into the top spot in the one-bid ACC.
The SEC holds serve with four bids including champion Georgia, runner-up Alabama, and at-large bids Texas and Ole Miss. I believe Alabama will be arguably the best team in the country and possibly ranked no. 1 heading into conference championship weekend, and therefore will be the highest-ranked at-large team after a projected loss to Georgia.
Similarly, the Big Ten projects to get three teams in the playoff in Ohio State, Oregon, and Penn State. Heading into the season, I had Penn State earning that third spot over Michigan. So far, the Nittany Lions look far more impressive than the reigning champs. In fact, Penn State was good enough to swap spots with Oregon in the rankings.
I still have the Big 12 as a surprise two-bid league with Kansas State earning the autobid and Utah doing enough to earn an at-large invitation. Just like last week, independent Notre Dame and Group of Five Liberty round out the field.
Michigan, Tennessee, USC, and Arizona are on the outside looking in, but mostly looked good in week one and will continue to contend for playoff spots.