College Football Playoff rankings: Projected top 4 after Week 7

The 2021 College Football Playoff picture got even murkier after Georgia was boat-raced by Alabama and North Carolina was upset by Florida State in Week 7.

Two top-five teams fell in Week 7, so the College Football Playoff picture must have changed.

Interestingly enough, both defeats came within minutes of each other. The No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide scored 24 unanswered points on the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs to win 41-24 in Tuscaloosa. While that wasn’t shocking, seeing the No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels play terribly in the first half vs. the rebuilding Florida State Seminoles and lost 31-28 sure was. The playoff picture adjusts.

College Football Playoff teams through Week 7

You could argue for the Clemson Tigers to remain in the top spot, and maybe they will get there eventually, but for now, Alabama has earned the right to be the No. 1 team in the nation entering Week 8. They have wins over a pair of ranked teams in the Texas A&M Aggies and now Georgia. The Crimson Tide can score at will on anyone and will make you pay if you make mistakes.

This is not a perfect team, as its defense will cost them at least one critical game this season. If it happens in SEC play, it won’t be the end of the world, as the Crimson Tide have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the second-best team in their division in Texas A&M and now over the team, they are increasingly likely to play in an SEC Championship Game rematch vs. Georgia in Atlanta.

Clemson improves to 5-0 after slaughtering the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to the tune of 73-7. In most weeks, that would be enough to ensure the Tigers would stay in the No. 1 spot. However, not playing in a strong ACC for the most part ultimately hurts Clemson right now. You can’t deny Alabama beating Georgia and not have them leapfrog the Tigers in these rankings for now.

The good news is Clemson isn’t going to lose a conference game this season. If they do, then that will be news to all of us. They have the Heisman Trophy frontrunner at quarterback in Trevor Lawrence and the favorite to take home the Doak Walker in running back Travis Etienne. It’s good to be Clemson, even if they drop down to No. 2 this week. It won’t be forever. Trust me.

It wasn’t pretty, but it doesn’t have to be. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish improved to 4-0 by avoiding embarrassment at home vs. the Louisville Cardinals. While it was a low-scoring 12-7 victory for the Golden Domers, it doesn’t make us feel great about their chances to stun Clemson at home in a few weeks. For now, the Irish stay in the top four and get to the No. 3 spot this week.

While their competition has been putrid, Notre Dame has won with great defensive tenacity and a commitment to running the football. Though it remains to be seen who they will do against halfway decent competition, getting to 4-0 in mostly conference play is never easy. Notre Dame has the feel of a top-10 lock all season long and will be in a New Year’s Six bowl for sure.

It looked good for at least a little while. Unfortunately, the Dawgs got their ass kicked in the second half by their perpetual nemesis Alabama. To be fair, most teams would have been nothing more than cannon fodder vs. the Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny in a night game. Georgia wasn’t expected to win this game anyway but did at times show it did belong on a big stage like this.

Going forward, the Dawgs need to win their next six SEC games to ensure they’re getting to Atlanta to face presumably Alabama in a rematch for a playoff berth or possibly playoff position on the line. When you play three ranked teams in a row, you’re bound to drop one of them, especially in a team that has owned you for the well over a decade. The growing pains remain for the Dawgs.

Editor’s Note: Only teams that have played are being evaluated for the playoff rankings.

First two teams out through Week 7

Even though their game vs. the Baylor Bears got postponed due to a coronavirus outbreak, the Oklahoma State Cowboys remain in the mix to get in the College Football Playoff. The Pokes are the best bet to win the Big 12 at this point, although the Iowa State Cyclones and the Kansas State Wildcats are both 3-0 in conference play. Two of those three teams will get to Arlington.

What serves the Cowboys at this time is they have what looks to be a strong defense and plenty of weapons on offense, most notably running back Chuba Hubbard and wide receiver Tylan Wallace. Quarterback may be an issue for them, but this has a chance to be the best team Mike Gundy has coached in Stillwater since winning the Big 12 back in 2011.

Yes, I am including a Group of 5 team as the second team out this week. Even though the Cincinnati Bearcats didn’t play vs. the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, they benefit from North Carolina losing the most. Once the Big Ten plays games beginning next weekend, they will fall out in favor of the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Penn State Nittany Lions. For now, they look good at 3-0.

The AAC has given us a few strong teams this year, but it looks like Luke Fickell’s team or Sonny Dykes’ SMU Mustangs are in the mix to represent the Group of 5 in the New Year’s Six bowls. Of course, we’ve loved what we’ve seen out of the national independent BYU Cougars, led by Heisman Trophy-contending quarterback Zach Wilson. The Group of 5 has been interesting.

Ultimately, we’re getting that part of the season where we need the Big Ten and the Pac-12 to start playing games. Going conference-only for the most part has given us some great matchups. However, it has also allowed quality teams like Georgia, North Carolina, Texas A&M, the Florida Gators and the Miami Hurricanes to all have one loss on the season before Halloween.

It feels like an inevitability that will get Alabama vs. Clemson in the national championship again.

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