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Coming into the tenth and last yr of the 4-team College Football Playoff, we’ve got a 2-time defending nationwide champion in Georgia, who’s certainly one of solely 5 groups to win a title within the post-BCS period. It’s been an oversaturation on the high with the identical groups enjoying in an important video games of the yr. And for those who’re a kind of fortunate handful of groups to expertise a CFP sport, congratulations. If not, it’s nauseating to see the identical matchups again and again. A breakdown of what’s taken place within the final 9 years of the CFP is downright nuts.
Solely 14 groups have made the CFP, and half of that subject has made a championship sport. Florida State, Washington, Michigan State and Cincinnati are one and achieved in CFP video games. The trio of Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Michigan are a mixed 0-8, with the Sooners proudly owning 4 losses within the playoff by themselves. Oregon within the inaugural CFP and TCU final yr have been nationwide runners-up of their solely respective appearances within the playoff. Joe Burrow led LSU to a championship within the Tigers’ solely look within the playoff. Ohio State is the one group to seem within the CFP a minimum of 5 instances and solely have one title to indicate for it. Then there’s the dominance of Georgia, Clemson and Alabama to spherical out the group. So which groups outdoors that group stand one of the best likelihood to make the CFP this season?
Of the groups ranked within the AP High 10, solely Texas, USC and Penn State have never made the CFP. The Longhorns are the one ones of that trio to not have a close to miss of the playoff, with Penn State clearly being the fifth-best group within the nation in 2016 and USC being one win away from making the playoff final yr earlier than shedding the Pac-12 title sport after which the Cotton Bowl. Increasing to the AP High 15, three extra groups which have by no means made the CFP will be added to the listing in Tennessee, Utah, and Kansas State. You possibly can get rid of the Volunteers from breaking that streak this season, after they struggled to blow out FCS-level Austin Peay at house. The opposite 5 aforementioned non-CFPers within the High 15 you’ll be able to’t rule out. Scanning the remainder of the High 25, and I don’t see a respectable contender. So we’re down to 5.
Kansas State surviving a harder matchup than most would anticipate on the highway towards Missouri on Saturday can be a terrific begin to the Wildcats making a New 12 months’s Six bowl for a second straight season. It wouldn’t shock me in any respect to see Texas vs. Kansas State face within the Huge 12 championship sport later this season with CFP implications on the road. I lean towards the Longhorns in that matchup as a result of I’d be silly to guess towards Quinn Ewers. Texas additionally has nearly as good of a non-conference win as anybody in faculty soccer, successful on the highway towards Alabama final weekend. My best choice for anybody to buck the development is the Longhorns, with the added context that the Huge 12 will likely be simpler to maneuver by than the Pac-12 or Huge Ten.
I’ll give Utah the worst odds among the many 5 that I consider could make their first CFP this season. The Pac-12 is simply too rattling robust and with how the Utes have appeared the primary two weeks, struggling a number of losses alongside the way in which appears possible. If Texas doesn’t make it, I’ll give one of the best odds to Penn State. There will likely be an even bigger goal on USC this season, with Caleb Williams nonetheless on the core of that group. By some means, it feels just like the Nittany Lions is likely to be underrated in Huge Ten circles with Ohio State and Michigan dominating these conversations.
Need an out-of-this-world crazy prediction for one more group? Wyoming. The Cowboys have already knocked off Texas Tech this season and a spot is open for a Group of 5 contender with Tulane shedding to Ole Miss. Who does Wyoming play this weekend? Texas. A win over the closely favored Longhorns and the Cowboys will likely be on the CFP radar the remainder of the season so long as they keep undefeated.
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