The teams with best shot at pushing for first College Football Playoff appearance in 2023

Each of the last two seasons, there has been a first-time participant in the College Football Playoff.

Last year, it was TCU. In 2021, it was Cincinnati.

Will there be another first-time Playoff participant this year? Here are the teams best positioned to have a shot at that, plus a couple honorable mentions.

USC

USC’s roster is loaded with talent well outside of just its reigning Heisman Trophy winner at QB, even more so after the Trojans added two of the top players from the spring transfer portal cycle, Georgia defensive line transfer Bear Alexander and Wyoming offensive guard transfer Emmanuel Pregnon. It came after USC was one of the top winners of the winter portal cycle with additions such Arizona All-Pac 12 wide receiver Dorian Singer, Oklahoma State All-Big 12 linebacker Mason Cobb, South Carolina running back Mar’Shawn Lloyd and others like defensive lineman Anthony Lucas, a former top-45 overall recruit from Texas A&M.

With its first six games being against either Group of Five teams or opponents that finished with losing records last year, USC should be 6-0 when it heads to Notre Dame for its first big test Oct. 14. However, the Fighting Irish matchup will be far from the Trojans’ only significant challenge during the second half of the season. Three of USC’s final five regular seasons game are against teams that won double-digit games last year and that will have a shot to do so again this season — Utah, Washington and Oregon.

Texas

There’s not a more talented roster in the Big 12. According to NFL scouts, the Longhorns have double-digit players with the ability to be selected in next year’s NFL draft. That includes potential early-round selections such as defensive lineman T’Vondre Sweat, wide receivers Xavier Worthy and AD Mitchell, tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders and maybe even quarterback Quinn Ewers if he can take a step forward from last year and play like he did against opponents such as Alabama and Oklahoma. Defensive back Jahdae Barron, linebacker Jaylan Ford and defensive lineman Alfred Collins are among the other Texas players with a chance at going in the first four or five rounds of next year’s draft.

It won’t take long to figure out whether the Longhorns will be a real contender or not, though. Texas plays at Alabama in Week 2.

Penn State

There’s definitely a case to be made that Penn State is among the five most talented teams in the country. The Nittany Lions are optimistic about their former five-star recruit at QB, Drew Allar, and have him surrounded by one of the nation’s top running back tandems, a strong offensive line led by first-round offensive tackle prospect Olu Fashanu and a defense that’s in line to be among the nation’s top units.

Honorable mentions

Utah

The Pac-12 has several teams capable of making a push for a conference championship and potentially a spot in the College Football Playoff. Utah is one of them. Kyle Whittingham has led the Utes to two straight Pac-12 titles and to double-digit wins each of the last three full seasons.

While Utah lost three of its five 2022 All-Pac 12 selections to the NFL, the Utes do return key players such as star QB Cam Rising, first-team All-Pac 12 offensive lineman Sataoa Laumea, second-team All-Pac 12 defensive lineman Junior Tafuna and other 2024 NFL draft prospects such as cornerback Zemaiah Vaughn, tight end Brant Kuithe and offensive lineman Keaton Bills. Utah also added some potential impact transfers like Stanford 2022 All-Pac-12 honorable mention linebacker Levani Damuni and former Florida State and Oregon wide receiver Mycah Pittman.

Whittingham said in April that Rising is ahead of schedule in his recovery from a torn ACL.

Kansas State

Like with Whittingham, Kansas State’s Chris Klieman is highly regarded and respected among his peers and is fresh off winning a conference title.

The Wildcats lost star running back Deuce Vaughn to the NFL along with two top-two round draft picks — defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah and defensive back Julius Brents — but the Wildcats return multiple 2024 early-round draft prospects like offensive lineman Cooper Beebe and tight end Ben Sinnott along with others such as QB Will Howard. In his final five starts against Big 12 opponents last year, Howard accounted for 15 total touchdowns with just one interception. Kansas State was 5-0 in those games, including two top-10 wins (No. 9 Oklahoma State and then No. 3 TCU in the Big 12 championship game).

The Wildcats also don’t have a schedule quite as daunting as Big 12 counterpart Texas. While Kansas State faces the Longhorns, it doesn’t play Oklahoma during the regular season. Its non-conference matchups, meanwhile, are against Southeast Missouri State, Troy and Missouri.

Here’s a full rundown of teams that have already made one Playoff appearance: Alabama (seven appearances), Clemson (six), Ohio State (five), Oklahoma (four), Georgia (three), Notre Dame (two), Michigan (two), LSU, Oregon, TCU, Florida State, Michigan State, Washington and Cincinnati.