Bowl projections: Ohio State falls to No. 8 seed in College Football Playoff, SMU earns first-round bye

Saturday obtained off to a wild begin with the sport that had the best influence on this week’s College Football Playoff projections as No. 2 Ohio State coughed up an opportunity to play for the Big Ten title and earn a bye within the CFP in an ugly 13-10 loss to Michigan.

Despite the truth that the Wolverines are solely 7-5, I do not anticipate the Buckeyes to fall too far within the rankings due to the loss.  No. 10 Indiana is absolutely the ground for them due to Ohio State’s dominant win over the Hoosiers only one week in the past. However, I’m projecting them to be forward of Eighth-ranked Tennessee as nicely, which is because of the truth that the Buckeyes have two top-10 wins, one in all which got here on the street.

In the SEC, No. 3 Texas received at No. 20 Texas A&M 17-7 as their rivalry was renewed for the primary time in 13 years. The win put the Longhorns within the SEC Championship Game in opposition to No. 7 Georgia. The Bulldogs wanted eight overtimes to beat Georgia Tech on Friday evening, however their spot within the SEC title recreation had already been assured.

My CFP projection relies on a win by Georgia over Texas for the SEC title, which might give the Bulldogs the No. 2 seed. The Longhorns shouldn’t be damage too badly if the sport is aggressive, however Georgia would positively bounce them.

The No. 1 seed within the CFP is projected to be Big Ten common season champion Oregon. The top-ranked Ducks will now play No. 4 Penn State for the Big Ten title following Ohio State’s loss and the Nittany Lions’ win over Maryland. They win the tiebreaker with Indiana due to the convention data of their league opponents.

The Hoosiers stay projected to be the final workforce in following a 66-0 rout of Purdue in a recreation that was not as shut because the rating would point out. Indiana wanted a dominant win to try to defend its place in opposition to groups enjoying higher opponents.

Quarterfinals

First spherical

The ACC additionally went by means of some upheaval as each No. 6 Miami and No. 12 Clemson misplaced. The distinction is that the Hurricanes misplaced a convention recreation, which dropped them out of the ACC Championship Game. The Tigers will now be the opponent for No. 9 SMU, which accomplished an undefeated convention season with a 38-6 win over Cal.  

The Big 12 was unusually chalky on Saturday. The groups answerable for their very own destiny for the convention title recreation each received. No. 16 Arizona State pummeled in-state rival Arizona 49-7, whereas No. 18 Iowa State took care of Twenty fourth-ranked Kansas State 29-21. This will probably be a one-bid league, though you’ll notice that I shouldn’t have the champion projected because the final workforce within the subject. That is one change this week.

I could make changes to those projections when the CFP rankings are launched on Tuesday night. Now that the common season is over, groups that aren’t enjoying this week sometimes maintain their spots relative to one another, so my adjustments would replicate that. The groups enjoying in championship video games can transfer round some, in fact. For instance, if Ohio State is forward of Tennessee this week, as I’m projecting, they are going to doubtless be forward subsequent week as nicely, though another workforce that’s enjoying might bounce in between.

Be certain to verify again on Sunday morning for the complete listing of Jerry Palm’s bowl projections.