College Football Playoff: Projected top four after Week 7

We are closing on the first edition of the College Football Playoff rankings and here are our projected top four teams after College Football Week 7. 

Week 7 of the college football season was always going to be consequential with a pair of top-10 matchups and four games total between unbeaten teams ranked in the top 20.

The two most important results in terms of the College Football Playoff came from the SEC and the Big Ten. Tennessee knocked off Alabama and put itself squarely in the playoff conversation, while Michigan football blew out Penn State and made its own case for a top-4 spot.

Clemson notched a 34-28 win over Florida State but it was a struggle. USC was upset by Utah and TCU rallied to beat Oklahoma State and remain the final unbeaten in the Big 12.

The College Football Playoff rankings have a certain criteria but conference championships don’t come into play until the end so keep that in mind as we project the 2022 College Football Playoff field after Week 7.

Fiesta Bowl (College Football Playoff): No. 2 Ohio State vs No. 3 Tennessee

Michigan has a good case to be the No. 3 team in college football and the Wolverines are ranked No. 3 by the coaches and No. 4 in the AP Poll.

However, it’s hard to discount what Tennessee has done this season. The Vols have beaten Pitt, Florida, LSU, and now Alabama.

Hendon Hooker, a Heisman favorite, had five touchdown passes and a game-winning drive that allowed Tennessee to win after taking over near its own 30 with just 19 seconds left on the clock.

Bryce Young has only lost three times as a starter and when Josh Heupel was hired a couple of years ago, I don’t think many expected Tennessee to be turned around this quickly. But as long as the Vols keep winning, and even if they lose to Georgia, as long as the Pac-12 and Big-12 champions don’t wind up unbeaten, Tennessee will have a strong case to make.

Michigan could be in the same position. The Vols and Wolverines could each lose to Ohio State and Georgia, the top-ranked teams, and still have a shot to make the College Football Playoff at 11-1.

They will need help though. However, if the Vols upset No. 1 Georgia and finished 12-0, their playoff ticket would be punched already, just like Georiga in 2021.

Peach Bowl (College Football Playoff): No. 1 Georgia vs No. 4 Michigan

Clemson fans might be wondering why Michigan is ahead of the Tigers, but right now, the Wolverines have been the superior team. Clemson won the road against Wake Forest and beat NC State but those wins aren’t all that impressive.

At least not as impressive as the way Michigan dominated Penn State. The Tigers were in trouble in the fourth quarter against a mediocre  Florida State team. A win is a win but it’s hard to argue the Tigers deserve to be ranked ahead of Michigan.

At the same time though, if Clemson keeps winning it won’t matter.  If the Tigers end up 13-0 and win the ACC, there won’t be any debate about their playoff hopes.

Georgia is No. 1 and could probably make the playoff with a loss if it won the SEC. But if that loss comes to Tennessee, the SEC East Title won’t happen. The win over Oregon could help the Bulldogs if the Ducks win the Pac-12, but as of now, the only sure-fire path to the College Football Playoff is winning the SEC title.

CFP Contenders 6-10: Clemson, Alabama, TCU, Ole Miss, UCLA, and Oregon

The bottom line is that the other top-six contenders all control their own destiny except for Oregon. The Ducks need to be weary of Georgia not winning the SEC title. Say the Bulldogs finished 12-1 and lost to Alabama in the SEC title.

Now assume Oregon wins the Pac-12 title and 12-1? Who would get the bid? Would the College Football Playoff committee really ignore the 49-3 win of Georgia in Week 1?

However, if Alabama rebounds and wins the SEC, it’s going to the playoff. The same goes to TCU, Alabama, Ole Miss, and Syracuse (outside the top 10 for now). If those teams continue to win, they don’t really even need to worry about anything else.

If college football ends up with four undefeated Power-5 champions, then it will be easy to make a decision. However, history tells us that won’t happen and if a few teams wind up as one-loss-conference champions, things could get really interesting for the selection committee.