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College Football Playoff Rankings Projection: Indiana replaces Iowa State, Texas fall upsets general order

College Football Playoff Rankings Projection: Indiana replaces Iowa State, Texas fall upsets general order

It’s officially time to welcome the Indiana Hoosiers to the Masquerade. Undefeated through seven games after their 49-point thrashing of Nebraska, Curt Cignetti’s team debuts this week as a worthy inclusion in the latest College Football Playoff predictions ahead of the release of the first rankings next month.

Starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke is not expected to play in the home game on Saturday against Washington with an injury, but backup Tayven Jackson is more than capable of keeping that train on the tracks after throwing two touchdowns in the second half of the Hoosiers’ loss to the Huskers.

Cignetti dared to dream big in Bloomington and his Year 1 plan via the transfer portal and his relentless offensive aggression are the main factors in Indiana’s national rise. The Hoosiers, headed to crucial matchups with Michigan and Ohio State, are one of four Big Ten teams in our Week 9 forecast.

Georgia joins Indiana with remarkable momentum. The Bulldogs are the SEC’s new favorite after pressuring Texas’ offensive line over the weekend and silencing one of the country’s most explosive offenses. A 23-point first-half lead on the road was the best Georgia has ever seen this season, and that was with quarterback Carson Beck other team after an admittedly “open” outing.

Texas A&M and LSU are the only SEC teams without a conference loss and meet Saturday in College Station. The winner holds sole possession of first place in the league standings at the start of the final month of the season and will remain virtually undecided as a likely playoff participant.

Projected CFP Rankings

1.Oregon

Big Ten champion

Dan Lanning’s stock is at an all-time high and will continue to rise with more wins for the new No. 1 team in the country. The Ducks are the Big Ten’s best team with the most wins in college football and showed no signs of slowing down after Ohio State in their shutout win at Purdue. The Ducks host No. 20 Illinois this Saturday on CBS (3:30 p.m. ET).

2. Georgia

SEC champion

Nobody believed in us. Kirby Smart actually said that after the Bulldogs’ 30-15 win over Texas. Georgia has lost one regular season game in four years, but was able to beat the Longhorns on the road as underdogs. Jalon Walker, Mykel Williams and the rest of Georgia’s defense played with a swagger we haven’t seen much this fall. If this continues, the Bulldogs will come to Atlanta and win a conference championship.

3. Clemson

ACC champion

Tigers quarterback Cade Klubnik said he left some throws on the field after Clemson’s 48-31 win over Virginia, but still managed to finish the game with 308 passing yards and three scores. With the help of a revamped group of first-year pass-catchers, an experienced tight end and a much-improved Antonio Williams, the Tigers are scoring points at will and appear to have fewer questions in the ACC than undefeated Miami.

4.BYU

Big 12 champion

On the BYU playlist, click repeat and release. The Cougars keep winning and they do it differently. Last week’s comeback win against Oklahoma State included a 35-yard touchdown with 10 seconds left. A loss to the Cowboys would have caused chaos in the Big 12 behind Iowa State, the league’s only undefeated team, but that didn’t happen. BYU is a slim favorite against UCF this weekend in Orlando.

5.Texas

Did Steve Sarkisian cause panic too early against Georgia? People ask. His decision to switch Quinn Ewers for Arch Manning in the second quarter to change possessions called into question the length of the leash Sarkisian actually has on his starting quarterback, even though Ewers returned in the second half and threw two touchdowns. The Longhorns fell from No. 1 to No. 5 in the AP poll after their first setback. They will look to redeem themselves on the road Saturday rank Vanderbilt.

6. Ohio State

Even if the Buckeyes won every remaining regular-season game and then lost to Oregon for the second time in the Big Ten title game, they would still be one of the top-seeded at-large picks. That’s partly because the Buckeyes would have victories over then-undefeated Penn State and Indiana as long as the Nittany Lions and Hoosiers kept it up. In this scenario, there are a lot of “what ifs” for Ohio State, which just needs to get to 11 wins.

7.Miami

Three consecutive one-possession victories for the Hurricanes push Miami even higher despite its unblemished record in Week 9. Other than Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty, there is no player in the country who means more to his team’s success than college football’s top player, Cam Ward. He was dynamic again in Louisville, including a first-half throw to the back of the end zone that had NFL scouts salivating.

8. Penn State

Penn State’s overtime win at USC shouldn’t be underestimated – the Nittany Lions responded to a two-touchdown halftime deficit with a successful late-game execution before prevailing in the extra session. The next two games – at Wisconsin against Ohio State – are crucial.

9. Notre Dame

The Fighting Irish will face undefeated Navy on Saturday, the first of two games against service academies currently ranked in Notre Dame’s top 25. Marcus Freeman’s team is ahead of Texas A&M in these updated playoff predictions as the Fighting Irish picked up a season-opening victory at Kyle Field.

10.Indiana

The enthusiasm for the Hoosiers is real. Nebraska was a barometer for the program and Indiana passed its test. This team poses problems for the opponent offensively with speed and explosive moves. The path to an outright playoff bid is 11 wins for the Hoosiers.

11. Texas A&M

The Aggies are one of the few SEC teams, behind Georgia and Texas in the league’s perceived pecking order, that still have their game-winning fortunes under control heading into Week 8. Texas A&M will be the league’s only undefeated team after two months in action when the Aggies make careful business at home against LSU. The Tigers are just as hot and, like Texas A&M, haven’t lost since opening weekend.

12. Boise State

Friday’s showdown at UNLV for the Broncos is their most important matchup left on the schedule. A win in Las Vegas means Boise State fans can clear their calendars for December and the start of the playoffs. The UNLV defense would love to spoil Jeanty’s Heisman parade with its best performance in the trenches. That should be fun to watch in the Mountain West.

Scheduled CFP first round games

  • (12) Boise State at (5) Texas – Winner plays (4) BYU
  • (11) Texas A&M at (6) Ohio State – Winner plays (3) Clemson
  • (10) Indiana vs. (7) Miami – Winner plays (2) Georgia
  • (9) Notre Dame at (8) Penn State – Winner plays (1) Oregon

The on-campus openers based on this Week 9 prediction include Boise State at Texas, Indiana at Miami, Notre Dame at Penn State and Texas A&M at Ohio State. That’s two first-round home games for the Big Ten, one for the ACC and one for the SEC runner-up.

The winners of these four games would advance to the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff, including bowl sites such as Fiesta (December 31), Rose (January 1), Sugar (January 1) and Peach (January 1). Among the notable matchups in the expanded playoffs, the Sugar Bowl automatically gets the highest-seeded SEC or Big 12 team in the quarterfinals, so second-seeded Alabama would play in New Orleans.

Tennessee isn’t worried about hefty fines after its fans stormed the field following the Vols’ second win in three years over Alabama. The win keeps Tennessee on top for the entire season, and the Vols will be the favorite in every remaining game except Georgia. Just like LSU and Missouri, who only suffered one loss each, Tennessee is also in the conversation for one of the big spots. In the coming weeks, everything will be decided on the nine SEC teams ranked in the current AP Top 25. Alabama isn’t out yet either, but Kalen DeBoer’s team is fading fast.

Where’s the love for undefeated Iowa State?

I love a story like the Cyclones, and who wouldn’t?? But predicting multiple Big 12 teams in the playoffs is a stretch right now, considering how many teams in the conference have lost multiple times and the overall lack of quality outside of undefeated Iowa State and BYU. The Cyclones have a tougher schedule going forward, which is largely why the Cougars are being picked to win the conference at this point rather than Matt Campbell’s team. Iowa State plays Texas Tech in November, Kansas, Cincinnati, Utah and Kansas State – all teams, except the Jayhawks, are likely to travel to bowl games. Of course, the winner of the conference championship game still gets in.