Week 8 College Football Playoff Projection: More chaos at the top
The latest weekend of college football didn't disappoint. On the heels of the much-anticipated October 12 slate of games, week eight proved to help further shape the potential College Football Playoff field.
In Austin, No. 5 Georgia reminded everyone that it isn't to be forgotten about by beating No. 1 Texas 30-15. Handing the Longhorns their first loss of the season, the Bulldogs showed that they are still a National Title contender.
Another top-15 matchup this past weekend saw No. 11 Tennessee defend its home turf against hated rival No. 7 Alabama. In the 24-17 Volunteer win, the home team overcame a scoreless first half to give the Crimson Tide its second loss of the season. Now, Alabama likely needs to win out to reach the College Football Playoff.
Interestingly, in the Big 12, both of the teams in first place had to survive scares at home. Friday night, No. 13 BYU had to drive 75 yards in the final minute of the game to score the winning TD in a 38-35 win over lowly Oklahoma State, a team that is winless in Big 12 play.
The next night, No. 9 Iowa State had to score a TD with 0:30 to go to pick up its own 38-35 win over UCF. Those two results were a reminder that this conference is wide open and that parity reigns supreme throughout the league this season.
So let's take a look at our College Football Playoff projection for week eight.
Rank | Team | Bid | Previous Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Oregon | Big Ten Champ | 1 |
2 | Georgia | SEC Champ | 9 |
3 | Clemson | ACC Champ | 3 |
4 | Iowa State | Big 12 Champ | 4 |
5 | Texas | At-Large | 2 |
6 | Ohio State | At-Large | 6 |
7 | Penn State | At-Large | 5 |
8 | Tennessee | At-Large | 11 |
9 | LSU | At-Large | N/A |
10 | Miami | At-Large | 8 |
11 | Notre Dame | At-Large | 10 |
12 | Boise State | MWC Champ | 12 |
Teams that could also break into the playoff field if they keep winning include Indiana, Texas A&M, BYU, and UNLV. All are on the outside looking in but each has a chance to earn a playoff spot given its upcoming schedule. So keep checking in each week to see who we think will earn spots in the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff.
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