College Football Playoff projections: Is Tennessee stuck on the outside looking in after losing to Georgia?

How would you rank the top teams in the SEC?

Georgia’s win over Tennessee on Saturday was further proof of how even the league is at the top of the conference. The Bulldogs have wins over the Vols and Texas, but lost to Ole Miss and Alabama. The Rebels lost to LSU and Kentucky. Alabama has losses to Vanderbilt and Tennessee.

At the very least, Missouri and LSU took themselves out of playoff consideration on Saturday with their losses. The Tigers from Columbia lost 34-30 after they gave up a late TD drive to South Carolina and LSU lost 27-16 at Florida.

Assuming South Carolina is also out of playoff contention with three losses, there are six SEC teams in the mix for the College Football Playoff. And deciphering how the committee will rank those teams feels like something out of an advanced-level calculus class.

Here’s our best guess as to how the playoff bracket will look on Tuesday. We think the committee could surprise us with Boise State and BYU.

First-round byes

1. Oregon (11-0, projected Big Ten champion)

The Ducks shouldn’t move off the top spot despite a close shave against Wisconsin. Dan Lanning’s decision to go for a fake field goal late in the game would have been the most second-guessed decision of the season had Wisconsin won the game. Instead, Matayo Uiagalelei sealed the game with an interception and the Ducks head into a bye in Week 13.

2. Texas (9-1, projected SEC champion)

The Longhorns got a brief second-half scare from Arkansas but made that a short-lived experience with a clutch touchdown drive. Texas’ downfield passing game needs to get sorted out, however. Quinn Ewers was 20-of-32 against the Razorbacks but threw for just 176 yards. The Longhorns host Kentucky in Week 13.

3. Miami (9-1, projected ACC champion)

Miami was off on Saturday and should move up a couple spots in the rankings thanks to…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-11-17 22:51:32

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