Things are starting to heat up in college football, with every win or loss affecting teams' seasons, especially those with playoff aspirations. Tennessee vs. Oklahoma and USC vs. Michigan were two games that had playoff repercussions on the outcome.
2024 College Football Playoff Predictions after Week 4
Three of my predicted playoff teams after Week 3 had a bye game this past weekend, but we saw a couple of moves. Here are my updated playoff predictions after Week 4.
Rank | Team | Why are they here | Previous rank |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Georgia | SEC Champion | 1 |
2 | Ohio State | Big Ten Champion | 2 |
3 | Utah | Big 12 Champion | 3 |
4 | Miami | ACC Champion | 4 |
5 | Texas | At-large | 5 |
6 | Tennessee | At-large | 8 |
7 | Ole Miss | At-large | 6 |
8 | Missouri | At-large | 7 |
9 | Alabama | At-large | 9 |
10 | Oregon | At-large | 10 |
11 | Penn State | At-large | 11 |
12 | Liberty | C-USA Champion |
Tennessee records a statement win, with USC missing their chance to jump up
One of the big games on Saturday evening saw Tennessee travel to Norman to face Oklahoma in a top-15 matchup. The Volunteers came out on top, winning 25-15, and have put the rest of college football on notice with two wins over ranked teams this season. Yes, people questioned the NC State win, but the win over the Sooners can not be questioned.
The Vols' win made it so I could not move them above Ole Miss and Missouri despite both teams winning. Missouri had to go overtime against Vanderbilt, while the Rebels took care of lesser opposition in Georgia Southern. Tennessee is now ranked No. 6, behind Texas, which also won in Week 4.
The other notable game was from the Big Ten Conference, as USC already had a win over LSU and had their first challenging road game against a conference rival, facing Michigan. The Trojans slipped to 2-1, thanks to a late touchdown from the Wolverines. USC looked good and should have seen the win, but the defeat left them out of my top 12.
Alabama, Georgia, and Oregon were on bye weeks. Next weekend, the Bulldogs travel to the reigning SEC champions, the Crimson Tide. The result will undoubtedly shake up the college playoff outlook after Week 5.
The race for the Group of 5 place in the 12-team playoff is also hotting up. I had Sun-Belt team Northern Illinois at the 12 spot thanks to their win over Notre Dame. However, they lost in Week 4 to conference rivals Buffalo, who put themselves in the picture. However, Liberty moved to 4-0, with two conference wins in Conference USA. Fresno State, Boise State, James Madison, as well as several others are all still in the race at this early stage.