2024 Week Six 12-team College Football Playoff rankings prediction
"The only place you're going to play in the SEC that's not hard to play, Vanderbilt. When you play at Vanderbilt, you have more fans there than they have, and that's no disrespect to them. It's the truth."
Remember when Nick Saban uttered those words just a few weeks ago? Good times...
Vanderbilt was the storyline of a chaotic College Football Saturday as they upset No. 1-ranked Alabama. Don't worry though, the Crimson Tide weren't the only top-25 squad to lose, as Tennessee, Missouri, Michigan, USC, Louisville and UNLV all lost as well.
I've been asking for chaos and I got it. The only problem is... HOW DO YOU RANK THESE TEAMS IN A POTENTIAL 12-TEAM COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF FIELD?!
It's impossible, but here's our best effort.
Rank | Team | Why are they here | Previous Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Texas Longhorns | SEC Champion | 1 |
2 | Ohio State Buckeyes | Big Ten Champion | 2 |
3 | Iowa State Cyclones | Big 12 Champion | 4 |
4 | Miami Hurricanes | ACC Champion | 3 |
5 | Oregon Ducks | At- Large | 8 |
6 | Penn State | At-Large | 9 |
7 | Alabama Crimson Tide | At-Large | 5 |
8 | Georgia Bulldogs | At-Large | 10 |
9 | Tennessee Volunteers | At-Large | 6 |
10 | Ole Miss Rebels | At-Large | NR |
11 | Notre Dame | At-Large | NR |
12 | Boise State Broncos | MW Champion | NR |
There's a lot to digest here...
The teams I had ranked from No. 5-7 last week (Alabama, Tennessee and Missouri) all lost, so it's obvious that they all slid down the rankings. An issue I had was: how can I justify Georgia leapfrogging Alabama after the Crimson Tide just beat them a week ago?
Also- Miami looked horrible for essentially three quarters and essentially got lucky they didn't lose to Cal late Saturday night (at this point, I don't even know how they define "targeting"). That game made me drop the Hurricanes to the No. 4 slot as the ACC continues to show that the conference is extremely weak this season.
With the amount of teams that lost, there were some newcomers this week, and that's a whole other issue to figure out. I settled on Ole Miss, Notre Dame, and Boise State (the projected Mountain West Champs), but a few teams were in the mix.
I just can't trust Dabo Swinney and Clemson just yet, while LSU, BYU, and Texas A&M were all intriguing options.
At this rate, all of those teams might find their way into next week's rankings if the chaos continues!
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