College Football Playoff Predictions: Week 6 Rankings To Reward Florida, Utah?
College Football Playoff predictions for Week 6 will punish Ole Miss and Georgia. In the updated College Football Playoff bowl projections, both SEC schools will take a hit after losing on Saturday, October 3. No. 8 Georgia lost to No. 13 Alabama at home, knocking the team out of the list of unbeaten schools. The Crimson Tide will be rewarded for the victory, likely putting the school back into the top four rankings for ESPN.
No. 3 Ole Miss had an even worse loss, falling to No. 25 Florida 38-10. This was the first loss of the season for Ole Miss, but the top ranked SEC team is going to fall a bit in the Week 6 college football rankings. The Florida Gators could be in for a big push from the voters, as the school moved to 5-0 with this win. It would be tough to defend the AP Top 25 or the Coaches Poll if Alabama is ranked higher than Florida in Week 6.
Those aren’t the only games that will directly impact the 2016 College Football Playoff projections. No. 7 UCLA lost its first game of the season on Saturday, falling to Arizona State by the score of 38-23. This is a huge loss for the Bruins, as the team could have moved into the top four or five teams with a big win over the weekend. That push could have come because No. 6 Notre Dame also lost, falling in a road game to No. 12 Clemson.
In the prior predictions for the College Football Playoff and major bowl games, CBS Sports had given some bold projections for Week 5. The site had Ohio State vs. Clemson in the Orange Bowl and TCU vs. Alabama in the Cotton Bowl. Big losses by Ole Miss, UCLA, and Notre Dame might take those projections one step closer to becoming true. With Alabama taking out the previously unbeaten Georgia, it brings another SEC school down into the mix.
The playoff picture, according to ESPN.com, was a bit different, with the top schools listed (in order) as Ohio State, Michigan State, Ole Miss, and TCU. Notre Dame was No. 6, UCLA was No. 7, and Georgia was No. 8. Those college football rankings are going to shift quite a bit, with a high likelihood that 4-0 LSU (ranked No. 9) is going to move up a lot. This is despite the Tigers only beating Eastern Michigan over the weekend. Other schools losing will help out LSU quite a bit.
Ohio State and Michigan State could have been threatened at the top of the polls after squeaking by with Week 5 victories, but with so many teams in the top 10 losing, the two Big Ten powerhouses might be safe for another week. TCU also won in big fashion, destroying Texas by the score of 50-7. The school will easily take over the No. 3 spot in the polls, with the possibility of enough votes to move up into the No. 2 slot. No. 5 Baylor could also see a boost after a 63-35 win over Texas Tech on Saturday.
Utah (4-0), Florida State (4-0), and Clemson (4-0) should each see big boosts from the voters, with all three teams deserving of a spot within the top 10. This is where it could get interesting, because 4-1 Alabama will still receive a lot of support, which could lead to a lot of frustrations from undefeated teams that might get ranked behind them. That includes two additional teams in the Big 12 that haven’t been noticed by the voters yet (Oklahoma State and Oklahoma).
It is very clear that the 2016 College Football Playoff predictions from ESPN are going to change, but that CBS Sports might keep the same top five teams. The Week 6 college football rankings come out on Sunday, October 4, with a lot of shifting expected to take place among the top 15 schools in the nation.
[Image Sources: Kevin C. Cox And Brett Deering / Getty Images]
