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Projected College Football Playoff Rankings after Alabama wins SEC

By John Buhler

Dec 3, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide running back Derrick Gore (27) celebrates a touchdown against Florida Gators linebacker Vosean Joseph (11) during the fourth quarter of the SEC Championship college football game at Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 3, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide running back Derrick Gore (27) celebrates a touchdown against Florida Gators linebacker Vosean Joseph (11) during the fourth quarter of the SEC Championship college football game at Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Alabama Crimson Tide annihilated the Florida Gators to win the 2016 SEC Championship. Here is what the College Football Playoff could look like.

The No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide eviscerated the No. 15 Florida Gators, 54-16, in the 2016 SEC Championship to improve to 13-0 on the season. Alabama will enter the 2017 College Football Playoff as the only undefeated team left in the Power 5.

Let’s take a look at what the Top 10 of the final College Football Playoff rankings could be should everything else hold steady.

  1. Alabama Crimson Tide
  2. Ohio State Buckeyes
  3. Washington Huskies
  4. Clemson Tigers
  5. Michigan Wolverines
  6. Wisconsin Badgers
  7. Oklahoma Sooners
  8. USC Trojans
  9. Florida State Seminoles
  10. Penn State Nittany Lions

By destroying Florida in the SEC Championship Game, Alabama will be the undisputed No. 1 in the 2017 College Football Playoff. The Crimson Tide will host the No. 4 national seed in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome on New Year’s Eve.

Despite not playing in a conference championship game, Ohio State would get the No. 2 seed by virtue of having the best loss of any one-loss team in the country: on the road against Penn State.

Washington earned its right to the school’s first College Football Playoff appearance by slaughtering the Colorado Buffaloes in the Pac-12 Championship Game on Friday night at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

The Huskies would edge out Clemson at No. 3, as their loss to USC is better than Clemson’s to the Pittsburgh Panthers. Washington beat a better team in its conference championship than Clemson would in Virginia Tech.

Narrowly missing out on the Playoff would be Michigan at No. 5 and Big Ten Conference Championship winner Wisconsin. The Badgers would be No. 6. They are a slight neutral-site favorite over Penn State at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

No. 7 would go to Oklahoma, who went through their Big 12 slate unscathed. The Sooners are probably a better team over Wisconsin, but the Selection Committee would value Wisconsin’s Big Ten Championship over Oklahoma’s Big 12 Championship. The Big Ten was the best conference this season, while the Big 12 was the fifth out of the Power 5.

No. 8 would belong to USC as the best three-loss team in the country. The Trojans would play in the Rose Bowl against Michigan. After a 1-3 start to 2016, nobody wants to play USC, period.

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Florida State would get the No. 9 spot as a better three-loss team over Penn State, who would fall to No. 10 by losing to Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game. Rounding out the Top 12 would be Colorado at No. 11 and the Oklahoma State Cowboys at No. 12. Western Michigan would get the Group of 5 bid somewhere in the top 15.

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