Ole Miss Rebels found their way into the top 12 of the AP Poll thanks to their win over South Carolina and several teams above losing to unranked opponents. It was a wild Saturday of college football, with several teams slipping to two losses, dealing their playoff chances a considerable blow.
2024 College Football Playoff Predictions after Week 6
Texas was on a bye week this week and watched (they didn't watch) while my 12-team playoff prediction from last week went up in smoke. Here are my updated playoff predictions after Week 6.
Rank | Team | Why are they here | Previous rank |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Texas | SEC Champion | 1 |
2 | Ohio State | Big Ten Champion | 2 |
3 | Miami | ACC Champion | 3 |
4 | Utah | Big 12 Champion | 4 |
5 | Oregon | At-large | 7 |
6 | Georgia | At-large | 6 |
7 | Penn State | At-large | 11 |
8 | Alabama | At-large | 5 |
9 | Tennessee | At-large | 6 |
10 | Ole Miss | At-large | 11 |
11 | Notre Dame | Ar-large | N/A |
12 | Liberty | C-USA Champion | 12 |
Alabama and Tennessee suffer shock defeats as Big Ten teams move up
On a Saturday full of upsets, two of my top six teams from last week suffered losses to unranked teams. The biggest was Alabama's loss to Vanderbilt, one of the biggest upsets in college football history. After beating Georgia last week, it was a big blow for the Crimson Tide, who dropped several places.
Tennessee also dropped the rankings after their 19-14 loss to Arkansas. I kept them in the top 12 after their win over Oklahoma, but I am still determining how much value that holds. We will learn more about the Volunteers later in the season, but they have looked impressive with their redshirt freshman quarterback. I was one person who didn't drop Ole Miss out of the top 12, so they moved up a spot with their win and Missouri being thumped by Texas A&M.
The Big Ten teams had a good weekend, with Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State all staying unbeaten. Oregon beating Michigan State meant they jumped above Georgia despite the Bulldogs beating Auburn. The Ducks look to be getting hotter by the week, just in time for the Week 7 game against my No. 2 ranked Ohio State.
As mentioned, Missouri lost, so I dropped out, replacing them with Notre Dame. I know they have that loss to Northern Illinois, but with USC, Virginia, Army, and Navy on the schedule, they should be in if they can win out. They had a bye this week but looked to be clicking better after the loss in Week 2.
There are plenty of Group of 5 teams challenging for that automatic bid, but I still have Liberty despite being on a bye and having one less game this season, thanks to the cancellation in Week 4 due to the effects Hurricane Helene.