Week 2 12-team College Football Playoff prediction

After a chaotic week two filled with upsets and near-upsets, there is a lot of moving and shaking in my week two College Football Playoff prediction. 

A week after rolling into College Station and knocking off Texas A&M, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish fell at home to Northern Illinois and may have ultimately fallen from the ranks of the playoff hopefuls.

After another close call, this time against Boise State, Oregon also took a big hit. Fortunately, the Ducks don’t have to play any more teams from the state of Idaho any time soon. 

After coming in as the no. 7 and no. 9 seeds respectively in last week’s College Football Playoff prediction, Marcus Freeman’s Irish and Dan Lanning’s Ducks are no longer in my bracket.

As the beneficiary of these losses and their own big wins in the first two weeks of the season, USC and Tennessee vaulted into the field. Lastly, Memphis replaces Liberty as the projected highest-ranked Group of Five champion. The Tigers have a chance to make a major statement against Florida State this weekend. 

Week 2 College Football Playoff Predictions

Georgia, Ohio State, Kansas State, and Miami remain at the top of the heap as my projected champions in their respective Power Four conferences. These four would get a bye in the first round of the playoff. 

The SEC gets a big boost with Texas, Tennessee, and Ole Miss all surging, and now has five teams in the field. The Longhorns went into The Big House and bullied the defending national champion Michigan Wolverines, while Tennessee's 51-10 evisceration of NC State was arguably the most impressive win of the weekend. 

While Alabama Football pulled away for a 42-16 win over USF, the Crimson Tide showed enough weaknesses to drop behind some of its SEC foes in this week’s playoff prediction. Texas replaces Alabama as my SEC runner-up for the time being. 

In the Big Ten, USC replaces Oregon and comes in as the no. 7 seed. The Trojans showed no hangover symptoms after beating LSU in an emotional Sunday night bout last weekend. They followed up their win over the Tigers by trouncing Utah State 48-0.

Penn State took a ding after a close call against Bowling Green, but the Nittany Lions remain in the field thanks in part to a convincing week one win at West Virginia.  

Now, there may be a flaw in this seeding structure, as it would dictate a pair conference matchups in the opening round of the playoff. Ole Miss would travel to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama in a rekindling of an SEC West rivalry, and Penn State would return to Los Angeles for a rematch with USC.

It may be unlikely that the committee would set up these matchups, but I think the order of these four teams is correct given their early-season resumes. 

The Big 12 might be the most fun conference to watch this season, but the league was characterized by ugly wins in week two. I still have it as a two-bid league with Kansas State and Utah both getting in, but that could change quickly after an injury to Utah QB Cam Rising.

Coach Kyle Whittingham insisted that Rising is fine, but the veteran quarterback’s injury history is well-documented and a possible cause for concern. Oklahoma State and Arizona are next up to be Big 12 contenders if the Utes falter.

Just outside of the 12-team field, teams like Missouri, Oregon, Oklahoma State, and Arizona are all lurking. Look for week three to be just as hectic as conference play approaches.