2024 Week Five 12-team College Football Playoff rankings prediction

Tennessee football was off in Week Five, but its SEC and College Football Playoff rivals were not. The Vols have instead spent the past week getting healthy and preparing for their SEC gauntlet schedule, starting with Arkansas on Saturday night. 

While Tennessee was off, the Vols' rivals, Alabama and Georgia, faced off in a contender for Game of the Year. The Crimson Tide pulled off the upset at home and moved to the top spot in the updated 12-team College Football Playoff rankings. 

We also have a new Big 12 Champion in the rankings prediction, with Utah losing to Boise State. The Big 12 is still wide open, but it looks like Kansas State might be the cream of the crop in that conference, despite their loss to BYU last week. 

Texas dropped the most spots, but that's only because it went from No. 1 and SEC Champion to No. 5, the highest-ranked team that is not a conference champion. Ole Miss also dropped a few spots after being upset by Kentucky at home. 

Here's a reminder of how the new-look Playoff will look: P4 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.

On The Bubble

The Missouri Tigers are again on the bubble after Week Five. They have a favorable schedule this year and will have a chance to win at least ten games. If they can win the right games, they might find themselves in a spot competing for the College Football Playoff National Championship. 

The Colorado Buffaloes make an appearance on the bubble for the first time this season. Deion Sanders has Colorado 4-1 and 2-0 in conference play. With the Big 12 wide open, they could make a run at the conference championship, earning a spot in the expanded CFP. 

Boise State is the first Group of Five team on the bubble this season. Boise and UNLV are two of the best G5 teams in the country, so we will likely see one or the other in the CFP this season. 

The Clemson Tigers could also be another team that quietly puts together a ten-win season and wins their conference or at least makes it to the conference championship game. This could put them in a spot to make the CFP after starting the year 3-1 and 2-0 in conference play. 

Week Six of College Football

Week Six could be a fun week in college football. Missouri travels to College Station in their first road test of the season against No. 25 Texas A&M, while Ole Miss looks to bounce back after their disappointing loss to Kentucky and earn a road win against South Carolina.