2024 College Football Playoff Projections: Hello Deion! Colorado is the No. 4 seed
Alabama’s 42-13 blitzkrieg at LSU combined with Ole Miss’ 28-10 loss at Georgia has created quite a mess in the SEC. At least eight different teams could still reach the SEC Championship Game.
For the purposes of this exercise, I expect the Dawgs to beat Tennessee next week and Texas to win at Texas A&M. Based on my colleague Seth Emerson’s calculations, this would likely result in a Texas-Alabama matchup in Atlanta, and I like the Tide in that.
Meanwhile, at this rate, at least one SEC team will finish 10-2 and miss the Playoff. My guess is Tennessee, which would have just one Top 25 win (against Alabama) and possibly only three wins over teams that finish at .500 or better. Unless, of course, the Vols beat an 11-1 Indiana team with no Top 25 wins.
Elsewhere, Oregon has done absolutely nothing wrong, but I’ll be riding Ohio State again when they meet in a rematch of the Big Ten Championship Game. Penn State has a disappointing resume, but considering the committee had the No. 6 seed last week, an 11-1 Nittany Lions team would likely be seeded above 11-2 Texas and 10-2 Georgia.
Finally, Colorado is my new projected Big 12 champion. The Buffs are rolling. It pains me to leave 9-0 BYU completely out of the field, but the Cougars’ luck will run out at some point, possibly at Arizona State in a few weeks. A 10-2 Ole Miss team with lopsided wins over Georgia and a possible 9-3 South Carolina team gets my last overall spot.
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