Projected Final College Football Playoff bracket, Top 25 rankings: Alabama upends UGA, Florida State perseveres
Projected Final College Football Playoff rankings: No. 10-9
10. Penn State Nittany Lions
If this were next year, we’d be having a long debate about whether or not Penn State deserves a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff over the likes of Ole Miss, Oklahoma, and LSU. But it’s the last of the four-team variety for the CFP this year, and the Nittany Lions’ chances went out the door in Week 11 with a decisive loss to Michigan.
The story for James Franklin has, unfortunately, been the same in Happy Valley for quite some time. Penn State is clearly one of the better teams in the country, but they are still a step behind the top contenders in the Big Ten in Michigan and Ohio State. That’s why the hypothetical 12-team debate would be fascinating as the Nittany Lions’ lone ranked win came over… Iowa.
That’s not exactly a fantastic resumé but Penn State could keep building on this, especially after some offensive changes that we could see them benefit from in the 2023 season.
9. Missouri Tigers
Despite all of the SEC drama that we saw take place in Atlanta on Saturday, the Missouri Tigers were free of it, probably much to the chagrin of the team and head coach Eli Drinkwitz. Having said that, you have to give Mizzou a world of credit for the season they put together.
Throughout the year, the Tigers ostensibly proved that they were the third-best team in the conference. What was more impressive is that they did this behind a monster offensive effort after the script was flipped a year ago. With that kind of adjustment in just one year’s time – the defense took a big step back in 2023 from 2022 – you have to feel great about the future in Columbia under Drinkwitz.
Missouri is surely locked into a New Year’s Six bid at this point, though Georgia will likely take the Orange Bowl bid from them if the Dawgs don’t make the Playoff. Even still, that’s something Tigers fans can certainly hand their hats on moving forward.