ESPN releases first College Football Playoff rankings prediction

ESPN released its first College Football Playoff rankings predictions ahead of Tuesday night’s reveal.

Entering Week 10, and just about to turn the calendar to November, college football is hitting the final stretch of the regular season. Everyone’s definitely keeping track of bowl projections and which four teams will make the CFP.

Let’s dive into ESPN’s College Football Playoff rankings predictions, via Heather Dinich.

1. Ohio State

Ohio State gets the top spot, per ESPN, ahead of the official first rankings. The Buckeyes are undefeated and have the resume.

That resume? It includes wins over Notre Dame on the road, as well as a home win over Penn State, a fellow AP top 10 team. For now, the Buckeyes are on top.

2. Florida State

Florida State also has a quality schedule en route to an 8-0 record with four games remaining in the regular season. The Seminoles beat previously ranked Duke at home and also took out Clemson on the road.

The eye test says Florida State is pretty darn good. Not to mention the win over LSU to open the season, a dominant one at that. However, that’s the only ranked win for FSU, if you use current AP rankings. 

3. Georgia

The two-time defending champions are undefeated but are No. 3 according to ESPN, based on the strength of schedule. Georgia’s biggest win right now is a dominant one over Kentucky on the road.

How does that stack up against the others? Not as well. Still, Georgia easily controls its own density. A 12-1, if not 13-0, Bulldogs team almost assuredly gets in right?

4. Washington

Washington is the clear cut top team in the Pac-12 right now due to its undefeated record and win over Oregon. Based on that win and its dominance through most of the season, the Huskies are in right now.

Close calls against Arizona State and Stanford are worrisome, but the eye test says yes, this team is in the playoffs right now. Can they hang on for the rest of the season?

5. Michigan

So here we go, this is where it gets interesting. Dinich put her projections up for ESPN and once again left Michigan out of the top four.

Yes, the Wolverines are undefeated on the season and dominant while doing so. However, the strength of schedule is very low by comparison. Michigan has yet to play Penn State or Ohio State. Not to mention there’s more NCAA smoke around Michigan than football smoke.

6. Oregon

Welcome back to the forefront Oregon. A stifling defense and an explosive offense is a recipe for success and it worked against Utah.

Utah’s depth was truly tested and it did not pass, even at home. The Ducks swarmed the Utes from the get-go and never looked back en route to a 35-6 victory to improve to 7-1. USC could play spoiler, so it seems like Washington and Oregon as the remaining Pac-12 contenders for the CFP.

7. Texas

Texas is an intriguing position. ESPN projects the Longhorns to be ahead of the Oklahoma Sooners in these rankings, despite a head to head loss. 

So, it’s a good loss, but Oklahoma’s lone loss to Kansas is worse. That seems to be the logic. At this point, Texas and Oklahoma are bound to play in the Big 12 title game and it could be a de facto play-in game for the final four. So long as some other things break right.

8. Alabama

Alabama was off the weekend to get rested up for the LSU game at home this coming weekend. The Crimson Tide might as well be called silent assassins since we don’t talk about them as much this year. Something like that.

They steadily moved up week-to-week following that loss to Texas at home earlier this season. Nick Saban and company will just watch the chaos ensue around them. The Crimson Tide practically control their own destiny the rest of the way.

9. Oklahoma

The Sooners’ luck ran out this week after a close win over UCF. Kansas knocked them off from the ranks of the unbeaten and now there are questions of Oklahoma missing out on the top four.

Brent Venables and company dropped this one 38-33 despite a 21-17 lead at halftime. Giving up 12 fourth quarter points was not ideal. The College Football Playoff chances took a huge hit after this one.

10. Penn State

It wasn’t pretty, but Penn State got back in the win column with a 33-24 win over Indiana. It was tight until the Nittany Lions started to pull away late.

Drew Allar threw for 210 yards, three touchdowns and one interception while the run game picked it back up. Kaytron Allen had 81 yards while Nick Singleton found the end zone. Moving forward, PSU needs to win out, Michigan to lose to Ohio State and maybe some other chaos.

11. Ole Miss

Quietly, and we mean quietly, Ole Miss is 7-1 and creeping up the rankings. Yes, the Rebels beat SEC East bottom dweller Vanderbilt 33-7. But still, the only loss is to Alabama, giving the Rebels a decent resume.

Jaxson Dart wasn’t overly impressive, but threw for 240 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Quinshon Judkins was a stud on the ground with 124 yards and two scores this weekend. Outside shot at the CFP? A lot would have to happen.

12. Oregon State

Oregon State, with two losses, is pretty much out of the CFP race, but the Beavers are good enough to make the top 12 and maybe play spoiler in the Pac-12.

Washington is 5-0 in the conference, USC is 5-1 and Oregon State is lurking at 3-2. Oregon is 4-1 and the two still have to play one another. Not to mention the Beavers had to play Washington as well, so Jonathan Smith and company could totally shake things up.

Now that the predictions are in, we wait for the College Football Playoff rankings, the official ones of course. These won’t be the final ones as more chaos needs to ensue. Happy Halloween folks.