College Football Playoff bracket: Can the SEC still get 6 teams into 12-team field?

And down goes Texas! As the Georgia Bulldogs handled business in the most frustrating way possible for me as an alum, it is nice to see the college football world get back in the good graces of the one true dynasty left in the sport. Texas is a great team, but one that needed to be humbled a bit. As far as humbling is concerned, I don't think it could have hit the fan harder for Alabama this season.

While the SEC has six 6-1 teams, Alabama is not one of them. Although people have differing feelings about Georgia, LSU, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas and Texas A&M, we are about to live in a world where Alabama has no business being part of the playoff. They are a two-loss team on the same level as Ole Miss and a team who beat them in Vanderbilt. Could six SEC teams make int into the playoff this year?

This would be my 12-team College Football Playoff bracket after the first eight weeks of the season.

1. Oregon Ducks (7-0) (Projected Big Ten champion)
2. Georgia Bulldogs (6-1) (Projected SEC champion)
3. Clemson Tigers (6-1) (Projected ACC champion)
4. Iowa State Cyclones (7-0) (Projected Big 12 champion)
5. Ohio State Buckeyes (5-1) (Projected Big Ten runner-up)
6. Penn State Nittany Lions (6-0) (Projected Big Ten at-large)
7. Texas Longhorns (6-1) (Projected SEC runner-up)
8. Miami Hurricanes (7-0) (Projected ACC runner-up)
9. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-1) (Projected national independent at-large)
10. LSU Tigers (6-1) (Projected SEC at-large)
11. Tennessee Volunteers (6-1) (Projected SEC at-large)
12. Boise State Broncos (5-1) (Projected Mountain West/Group of Five champion)

And these would be my first four teams out of the College Football Playoff after this weekend.

• 13. Indiana Hoosiers (7-0) (Big Ten)
• 14. Texas A&M Aggies (6-1) (SEC)
• 15. BYU Cougars (7-0) (Big 12 runner-up)
• 16. Alabama Crimson Tide (5-2) (SEC)

Entering Week 9, I only have four SEC teams making it in with Georgia, Texas, LSU and Tennessee. However, I do have two SEC teams among my first four out in Texas A&M and Alabama. The interesting part about this exercise in formulating a playoff bracket is I only have seven Power Two schools making it in. The ACC, the Big 12, Notre Dame and the Group of Five account for five spots.

Let's discuss what needs to happen for the SEC to somehow get six of its teams into the playoff.

College Football Playoff projections: Could SEC get 6 of its teams in?

According to ESPN's Football Power Index, only 24 teams in the country have better than a 10-percent chance of making it into the playoff this year. Among those 24 teams, eight hail from the SEC. Those are the ones mentioned above with it being Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Missouri in order of most likely to make it in (Georgia) to the least likely (Missouri).

The only way the SEC ends up getting six teams in are if the ACC, the Big 12 and the Group of Five only get their champions in. For the sake of simplicity, let's say it ends up being Miami, Iowa State and Boise State as those three representatives, ones that could be clear, obvious and very much no-brainers. The other part of the coin is the Big Ten can only get three teams in. Which team is going to fade fast?

Right now, the Big Ten only has four teams with better than a 10-percent chance of making it in. In order, it would be Oregon, Ohio State, Penn State and Indiana, with Illinois keeping it interesting with nearly a 7-percent chance of making it in. The outcome of Indiana at Ohio State will help, as the Hoosiers could go down a peg with a first loss, just as well as Ohio State suffering a second defeat.

While I think there is a chance that either Indiana, Ohio State or Penn State could prove to be fraudulent, I am not going to single anyone of them out. I believe Oregon is good, which is why I have the Ducks as the No. 1 seed this week by a considerable margin. The question now is what six teams would have to make it into the playoff for the SEC to conceivably get six of its teams in this season.

The problem with figuring this out is so many of these SEC teams still have to play each other. Georgia has to play Ole Miss and Tennessee. Texas has to play Texas A&M. Tennessee has to play Georgia. Alabama has to play Missouri and LSU. LSU has to play Texas A&M and Alabama. Texas A&M has to play LSU and Texas. Ole Miss has to play Georgia. And Missouri has to play to play Alabama.

I would say Georgia, Texas and Tennessee are in the best spots of the eight to get in. Alabama, Missouri and Ole Miss are behind the eight ball. As for LSU and Texas A&M, the winner of next Saturday's game will be in great shape, while the loser will need to win their other huge rivalry game to punch their ticket in. There is also Vanderbilt looming large as a giant killer at 5-2 on the season, too.

Overall, the chances of the SEC getting six teams in are a bit unrealistic. The league would need runner-ups in the ACC, Big 12 and Group of Five to be undeserving, as well as Notre Dame bowing out of it. The SEC would also need the Big Ten to only send three teams in this year. While I think the SEC is going to get at least four teams in, I am more inclined to say that if it is more it will be five, not six.

Right now, I would say Georgia, Texas and Tennessee are comfortably in, but so much can change.