2024 Week 6 12-team College Football Playoff rankings prediction
Week 5 was filled with upsets and classic entertaining matchups that impacted this week's College Football Playoff predictions for the 12-team bracket.
SEC football highlighted the crazy and entertaining matchup results coming out of Week 5 of the regular season, with the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide hanging on in a classic finish to defeat the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs in Tuscaloosa on Saturday night. Georgia stormed back to eventually erase a 23-point halftime lead for the Tide to nearly win the game late in the fourth quarter.
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But quarterback Jalen Milroe and superstar freshman wide receiver Ryan Williams connected on an insane deep ball down the sideline for a catch-and-run game-winning score for the Tide, to nab the narrow 41-34 victory over the Dawgs.
The SEC also saw the No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels get toppled by the Kentucky Wildcats on a late-fourth-quarter missed field goal by their kicker.
Here's a look at the updated 12-team College Football Playoff bracket predictions after the first big week of upsets in Week 5.
Rank | Team | Why are they here | Previous rank |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Alabama | SEC Champion | 6 (+5) |
2 | Ohio State | Big Ten Champion | 2 (--) |
3 | Miami | ACC Champion | 3 (--) |
4 | Iowa State | Big 12 Champion | NA |
5 | Texas | At-Large | 1 (-4) |
6 | Tennessee | At-Large | 5 (-1) |
7 | Penn State | At-Large | 8 (+1) |
8 | Oregon | At-Large | 10 (+2) |
9 | USC | At-Large | 11 (+2) |
10 | Georgia | At-Large | 9 (-1) |
11 | Clemson | At-Large | NA |
12 | Boise State | Highest-Rated G5 Conference Champion | 12 (--) |
After getting upset at home in Oxford by Kentucky and head coach Mark Stoops, Ole Miss is the only team that dropped out of this week's Playoff rankings from an at-large spot. The Utah Utes dropped out of the Big 12 bid after head coach Kyle Whittingham's squad was upset at home last weekend by the Arizona Wildcats by two scores.
Utah is still without starting senior quarterback Cam Rising due to a hand injury, and suffered its first defeat this season against Arizona late on Saturday night.
To little fault of their own, No. 2 Texas football was the biggest faller in this week's Playoff rankings. Texas did look sloppy out of the gates in its SEC opener win last weekend over the Mississippi State Bulldogs, by a score of 35-13.
What caused the Longhorns to fall four spots in this week's Playoff rankings was the rise of Alabama to the top spot after its one-score win at home at Bryant-Denny Stadium over Georgia last weekend.
Thus, Alabama and first-year head coach Kalen DeBoer were the biggest risers this week, rising five spots to claim the No. 1 ranking. The Oregon Ducks and USC Trojans also rose multiple spots this week with a couple of double-digit conference wins over the weekend in the Big Ten.
Alabama edged out Texas and the Ohio State Buckeyes for the No. 1 ranking in this week's AP Poll. Yet, the Longhorns climbed up to No. 1 for the first time this season in this week's Coaches Poll. And Texas maintains the top spot in this week's ESPN FPI.
The Iowa State Cyclones and Clemson Tigers are the two new entrants to this week's Playoff projections. Iowa State is the highest-ranked Big 12 team after Utah's loss to Arizona, and after a convincing 20-0 shutout win at home over the Houston Cougars last weekend.
Clemson has an intriguing spot in the ACC title contender race this fall after the Miami Hurricanes were nearly upset by the Virginia Tech Hokies at home. Miami luckily avoided a disastrous home upset against Virginia Tech on an overturned last-second touchdown pass from the Hokies that gave the Canes the one-score win.
The three teams on the outside looking in for this week's Playoff projections are the Indiana Hoosiers, Mizzou Tigers, and Michigan Wolverines (in order from top to bottom).
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