College Football Playoff Bracket: Top Teams & Snubs

Segment Spotlight: Quick Hits From Pushing The Odds with Matt Perrault

Projected Playoff Bracket Could Leave the Big 10 Fighting for Two Spots

ESPN will unveil the College Football Playoff bracket tonight, and Yahoo Sports expects the top five teams to be Miami, Georgia, Utah, Indiana and BYU.

Miami remains undefeated after narrowly beating North Carolina. Georgia may have been ranked first without its loss to Auburn, while Utah easily handled Cincinnati. Indiana has survived several close games, and BYU enters this weekend’s matchup against Utah with a 7-1 record.

The most interesting decisions may come between eighth and 11th in the rankings. My projected bracket has Boise as the Group of 5 representative and Indiana at No. 5. UCLA could land around seventh or eighth, while Alabama, Texas and Kentucky could also make the field.

That would put four SEC teams into the 12-team bracket, accounting for one-third of the field and prompting plenty of discussion about SEC bias.

Ohio State could initially appear in the bracket, but I do not expect the Buckeyes to make the final playoff field. The quarterback play was poor last week, and Ohio State will face difficult competition as opponents see a vulnerable team. The Buckeyes cannot afford another loss and likely need to run the table.

If Ohio State falls out, Indiana and UCLA would be the Big 10’s only remaining teams. That would create frustration because the SEC could receive four spots while the Big 10 gets two.

However, the Big 12 may be the bigger problem for the Big 10. Utah, BYU and potentially Texas Tech could claim three places. Between the SEC, the Big 12 and the Group of 5 representative, eight of the 12 selections would already be filled.

Miami is getting into the playoff, and Notre Dame must also be included in the bracket despite not belonging to a conference. After accounting for those teams, only two spots would remain for the Big 10.