College Football Playoff: Projected top 4 after Week 5

The 2023 college football season now has five full weeks in the books and here’s the projected top four for the College Football Playoff after Week 5.

Things are getting more interesting with each week of the college football season. Week 5 didn’t have as many marquee matchups as Week 4, but it was just as consequential.

Duke nearly ended Notre Dame’s hope of making the College Football Playoff before a memorable run by Sam Hartman kept the hopes alive for the Fighting Irish.

Ole Miss kept itself in the mix but knocked out LSU in the process. There is still a slim path for LSU, but it’s very slim and would require a ton of chaos.

As it stands right now, the Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Pac-12, and Big 12 all have teams that seem poised to finish unbeaten or potentially with one loss.

The top four hasn’t changed much in recent weeks. Ohio State is the No. 5 team right now, followed by the cluster of Pac-12 teams (Oregon, Washington, USC), Oklahoma (Big 12) and then Notre Dame. Penn State also controls its own destiny.

We have a long way to go but here’s the projected top four for the College Football Playoff after Week 5 of the 2023 season.

4. Florida State

The Seminoles have a few challenging games left on the schedule with Miami, Duke, and Florida still left, as well as a potential berth in the ACC championship game.

Florida State looked vulnerable against Clemson and Boston College. Both of those games were on the road and the toughest on the regular season schedule are at home with the exception of Florida.

Jordan Travis and FSU control their own destiny but with all five leagues looking to have a legit contender, Florida State doesn’t have much room for error.