Joel Klatt reveals latest College Football Playoff bracket projection

The college football season is moving through the middle stages of the season, and the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff field is slightly easier to predict. And FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt took another crack at predicting the field ahead of Week 6.

From his initial pre-season projection of the field, Klatt saw some notable changes in terms of which teams might represent which league. But one thing remained constant: The SEC and Big Ten are going to crowd the field.

Check out Klatt’s full 12-team CFP projection below.

1. Texas

So far, there’s been little to dissuade observers from picking Texas to make an undefeated run. At this point, Klatt thinks the Longhorns are positioned to do just that, or at least at least go and win the SEC title in Year 1 in the league.

“Because I believe that the SEC champ is almost assuredly going to get the No. 1 seed with the strength in that conference at the top,” Klatt said. “I think Texas wins the SEC and gets the No. 1 overall seed in the playoff.”

2. Ohio State

While Klatt basically automatically put the SEC champion at No. 1, Ohio State as Big Ten champions wouldn’t be far behind. And, Klatt said, they’re still his pick at this point to win the national championship.

“Ohio State is still right up there at No. 2 in the country. I would still have them winning the national championship,” Klatt said.

3. Clemson

The Tigers have looked sharp since getting dominated in the season opener. And Klatt thinks this Clemson team has turned a corner and will win the ACC, thus locking up a Top 4 seed. He analogized the build for Clemson to water coming to a boil.

“Again, the slow boil continues, folks. At this point, they’re 212 degrees. They’re a boiling pot of water that can power a locomotive,” Klatt said.

4. Kansas State

Like most prognosticators, Klatt had the most trouble with the Big 12, and could readily see a number of teams coming out of the league as champion. But for now, he’s still sticking with Kansas State, despite the early loss.

“That’s a little bit more murky,” Klatt said.

5. Alabama

Alabama has looked, arguably, as good as any team in the country and quarterback Jalen Milroe’s continuing evolution is central to that. And with a big resume-building win already, Klatt thinks the Crimson Tide — who he predicts will lose to Texas in the SEC title game — are the easy pick for the No. 5 seed.

“With Alabama’s win over Georgia, even if they were to lose the SEC Championship Game, Alabama would be No. 5,” Klatt said.

6. Oregon

Much akin to the Crimson Tide, Klatt has Oregon as a conference runner up without much to keep them out of the No. 5 or 6 seed line. That would especially be the case with the only loss (or losses) likely coming against Ohio State.

“Oregon, losing the Big Ten championship game, would be the No. 6 seed,” Klatt said.

7. Georgia

After the first six teams, Klatt acknowledged things get a bit more wide open, as conference champions and the respective runners up in the Big Ten and SEC eat up the first half of the field. This, Klatt thinks, is where some sentiment and perception comes into play — to the benefit of Georgia.

“I think that Georgia beats Tennessee and gets that seven spot, even if they were to lose to Texas on the road,” Klatt said. “I see Georgia going 10-2. They lose to Texas on the road, but beat Tennessee, and a 10-2 Georgia team is easily No. 7.”

8. Tennessee

Though Klatt has the Bulldogs continuing to come out on top over Tennessee, he still sees the Vols as a playoff team. And were Tennessee to beat Georgia, the seed could be even higher.

“So now Tennessee is the eight seed — so you see how these start to fall into place and these dominoes start to fall into place,” Klatt said.

9. Penn State

The next domino to fall for Klatt was Penn State. The Nittany Lions still have a handful of big-time games, including against Ohio State. But a one or two loss season and a finish near the top of the Big Ten make the Nittany Lions a simple at-large pick.

“Penn State easily could be an 11-1 team, but let’s say they’re 10-2: This is a perfect spot to slot Penn State,” Klatt said.

10. USC

The outcome of the Penn State matchup likely sways how the Trojans and Nittany Lions would stack up in seeding. But if USC does take a second loss when it faces Penn State, Klatt doesn’t think that will be a done deal for the Trojans.

“Even if they lose to Penn State, they can run the table, they can essentially have a play-in game against Notre Dame,” Klatt said.

11. LSU

Klatt basically sees LSU going 10-2 and with the only conference loss coming against Alabama. And that resume, he thinks, gets a team in at-large. And the only reason LSU isn’t seeded higher is they can’t jump USC, who the Tigers lost to in the opener.

“For me, LSU is a 10-2 team, 7-1 in the SEC. 7-1 in the SEC, to me, gets you in,” Klatt said.

12. Boise State

And at last, there’s the Group of 5 spot. While there are a number of viable contenders for this playoff berth at the moment, Klatt is sticking with Boise State and star running back Ashton Jeanty to get the job done, win the Mountain West, and make it into the College Football Playoff.

“I think that the Mountain West winner should go to the playoff which mean’s Boise State gets the No. 12 seed,” Klatt said.

And with more than half a season still to be played, one thing seems certain: Plenty will change about this projection between now and selection Sunday.