2024 Week Seven 12-team College Football Playoff rankings prediction
Tennessee football and Alabama hang onto College Football Playoff contention with wins over unranked SEC opponents at home. Tennessee beat Florida 23-17, while Alabama beat South Carolina 27-25 ahead of the Third Saturday in October.
The upcoming matchup between Tennessee and Alabama could be an elimination game for the loser when it comes to making the 12-team College Football Playoff. Two losses this early in the season could be detrimental to any program looking to compete for a National Championship.
Oregon handled business against Ohio State and won its first Big Ten conference game while upsetting the Buckeyes. Oregon did not look like a CFP team earlier this season, but after Saturday's win, they might be the favorite to make the CFP out of the Big Ten.
Ohio State's loss leaves only four undefeated teams remaining in the top ten. Texas and Penn State have established themselves as national championship contenders through the first half of the season. Miami continues to hang on by a thread, and Iowa State has emerged as one of the premier teams in the Big 12.
Here is how the new 12-team Playoff will look: Power 4 conference champions receive automatic bids and the top four rankings. The top Group of Five champion is the fifth team to receive an automatic bid, while seeds six through 12 are all at-large bids. Seeds five through eight will host seeds nine through twelve in the first round.
Rank | Team | Why They Are Here | Previous Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Texas Longhorns | SEC Champion | 2 (+1) |
2 | Oregon Ducks | Big Ten Champion | 5 (+3) |
3 | Miami Hurricanes | ACC Champion | 3 (-) |
4 | Kansas State Wildcats | Big 12 Champion | 4 (-) |
5 | Ohio State Buckeyes | At-Large | 1 (-4) |
6 | Penn State Nittany Lions | At-Large | 6 (-) |
7 | Georgia Bulldogs | At-Large | 7 (-) |
8 | Iowa State Cyclones | At-Large | 11 (+3) |
9 | Tennessee Volunteers | At-Large | 8 (-1) |
10 | Alabama Crimson Tide | At-Large | 9 (-1) |
11 | Clemson Tigers | At-Large | 11 (-) |
12 | UNLV Rebels | Mountain West Champion | 12 (-) |
On The Bubble
Despite its loss to Northern Illinois earlier this season, Notre Dame has the highest odds to make the CFP, based on ESPN's Playoff Predictor, with 57%. The Fighting Irish have carved a path to an 11-1 regular season but will have to get through Georgia Tech, Army, and USC all in an upcoming five-week span to do so.
Indiana continues to be one of the hottest teams in America and possibly America's Big Ten team. They are 3-0 in conference play, but their schedule will get more difficult every week from now on, starting with Nebraska this Saturday.
LSU made its voice heard in the CFP race with its overtime win over Ole Miss. Their win bumped the Rebels out and put the Tigers into contention. LSU joins Texas A&M, and Texas is the only SEC team with an undefeated conference record.
Boise State continues to run through every opponent it faces. Ashton Jeanty has 1,248 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns through the Broncos' first six games. Boise faces its toughest Mountain West challenge this week when it heads to Las Vegas to play UNLV.
We have one more team on the bubble this week. The Army Black Knights are fighting Boise State and UNLV for the Group of Five spot. Army is No. 23 in the AP Poll with a 6-0 record and 5-0 record in conference play in their first season in the American Athletic Conference
Week Eight in College Football
The past two weeks have given us some amazing games, and that doesn't look like it will change this week. Oregon heads to Purdue, Notre Dame plays at Georgia Tech, No. 5 Georgia travels to No. 1 Texas, Miami plays at Louisville, and the most important game to this page is Tennessee and Alabama's face-off for the 96th meeting of the Third Saturday in October.