*Seeds:

1 Oregon

2 Georgia

3 Miami

4 BYU

5 Ohio State

6 Texas

7 Indiana

8 Penn State

9 Tennessee

10 Alabama

11 SMU

12 Boise State

*Seeds are not what the teams are ranked. Miami and BYU are not ranked third and fourth in the country. They are the third and fourth seeds due to the top four highest-ranked conference champions being top four seeds and receiving byes. The fifth highest-ranked conference champion gets a spot in the playoff. Boise State is not ranked 12th in the country. 

As always, November Saturdays come through. Iowa State, Kansas State, Clemson, Pitt and Texas A&M all lost and shook up the playoff landscape. It is exciting to think we get four more Saturdays of games before Championship Saturday and Selection Sunday. 

Notre Dame is the first team out. Alabama’s resume is significantly better than the Fighting Irish. The Crimson Tide has a SOS of 5 and significant wins against Georgia, Missouri and South Carolina. Notre Dame’s SOS is 62 with one significant win that is weighted out by their loss to Northern Illinois. SMU also slots ahead of Notre Dame. SMU’s SOS is 77, but the Mustangs have a 23-point win against Pitt and their loss was by three to undefeated BYU. SMU also passes the eye test.

With the losses in the ACC and Big 12, Miami and BYU are clearly the favorites in their conferences. Boise State is also running away with the Group of Five spot.

Army is still undefeated but with the second-worst strength of schedule, they need to win out and hope for the Broncos to lose. Colorado State has the inside path to the Mountain West title game, which would be an easier opponent for Boise to play compared to UNLV. The Broncos have a remaining SOS of 97, so it is likely Boise will win out and make the playoffs.

Indiana continues to climb the seeding lines after another blowout win. They are a great example of a team with a poor SOS (108) but this past Saturday was the first time they trailed in a game all season. They beat Nebraska by 49 a couple of weeks ago and now beat Michigan State by 37. They have won every game by at least 14 points. They get Michigan in Bloomington next Saturday before a bye leading into a huge matchup against Ohio State in Columbus on November 23rd.

The winner of next week’s Alabama at LSU game will be favored to win the rest of their games and most likely to make the playoff.