College Football Playoff predictions: Projecting who would make 12-team field after Week 9

Admin October 28, 2024

The US LBM Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 poll saw no movement at the top after Week 9 in college football.

That means the post-Week 9 College Football Playoff predictions weren’t altered at the top, either — though one of the SEC’s at-large teams dropped out of contention while another of its programs entered the conversation.

Oregon remains in the driver’s seat of the Big Ten after the Ducks put up 38 points at home against Illinois this past week. The Ducks hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against No. 4 Ohio State, who enters an important game against No. 3 Penn State this upcoming week. The showdown between the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions in Happy Valley could be telling in who faces Oregon in the Big Ten championship game.

REQUIRED READING: College Football Playoff odds, favorites to make 12-team CFP field after Week 9

The race to Atlanta for the SEC championship saw some slight breathing open up for Texas A&M, as the Aggies defeated LSU 38-23 in Week 9 to become the only SEC team undefeated in conference play. The Tigers still remain in the race, as does Georgia, Alabama, Texas and Tennessee.

Miami and Iowa State kept their spots as the highest-ranked teams in the ACC and Big 12 respectively, as the Hurricanes moved to 8-0 on the season after beating up on FSU. The Cyclones were on bye in Week 9.

Here’s the latest CFP predictions after Week 9 of the college football season:

College Football Playoff predictions after Week 9

Seedings are based on this week’s US LBM Coaches Poll and rules of the College Football Playoff format:

Oregon *
Georgia *
Miami *
Iowa State *
Penn State
Ohio State
Texas
Tennessee
Clemson
Notre Dame
Texas A&M
Boise State **

* Receives first-round bye, automatic bid

** Receives automatic bid

There was no movement among the top four seeds from Week 9’s rankings to Week 10’s. Oregon remained at No. 1 with a 38-9 win over Illinois. Miami remained undefeated to hold onto the top spot out of the ACC and the No. 3 seed. Georgia and Iowa State were both on bye this week, keeping the Bulldogs and Cyclones at No. 2 and No. 4, respectively.

The biggest move of the week was LSU dropping out of the playoffs following its loss to Texas A&M, which moved in at the No. 11 spot. Boise State, the fifth-highest-ranked conference champion, is still slotted in as the No. 12 seed.

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Projected CFP bracket after Week 9

If the season were to end today, here’s a look at what the matchups in the first-round would be:

No. 5 Penn State vs. No. 12 Boise State
No. 6 Ohio State vs. No. 11 Texas A&M
No. 7 Texas vs. No. 10 Notre Dame
No. 8 Tennessee vs. No. 9 Clemson

From there, the winner of Penn State-Boise State would play No. 4 Iowa State in the quarterfinals, while the winner of Ohio State-Texas A&M will face No. 3 Miami. No. 2 Georgia will play the winner of Texas-Notre Dame. No. 1 Oregon would play the winner of Tennessee-Clemson.

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