2017 College Football Playoff preseason predictions
More than one hundred teams have College Football Playoff hopes. The Saturday Blitz staff makes their projections on which teams will make it all the way.
Twelve. That’s the number of unique teams that received at least one vote to reach the College Football Playoff in 2017. The Saturday Blitz staff has locked in their final projections and there are a few new faces projected to meet up with some college football veterans.
This is the culmination of our Power 5 conference previews. If you missed those make sure you check out the projected champions for each conference:
Before we get to the final four. Here are the eight teams that received at least one vote.
Also receiving votes
Washington, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Clemson, Louisville, Auburn
Oklahoma and Washington, a pair of previous College Football Playoff participants, came close to earning the nod for the preseason final four. After those two teams, six new College Football Playoff hopeful received votes.
Of these teams Wisconsin looks to be in the best position to break through. They play in a relatively weak Big Ten West and are nearly a lock to reach their conference title game. If the Badgers can edge out the Big Ten East Champ they’re going to be playoff bound. The same scenario likely exists for the Washington Huskies, who could see themselves in a winner-take-all PAC-12 Championship game this year.
The Big 12 is projected to be once more on the outside looking in. There’s a distinct possibility that the winner of the Bedlam rivalry game between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State could turn around and lose the newly reinstated Big 12 Championship game.
Penn State, Clemson, Louisville and Auburn, the four other vote recipients, each have significant obstacles standing in their way. Each plays at least one projected College Football Playoff team. Beyond that, each has some roster holes that will need to be addressed for them to make a championship run.
Here’s our final four.