Projected Final College Football Playoff bracket, Top 25 rankings: Alabama upends UGA, Florida State perseveres

Projected Final College Football Playoff rankings: No. 8-7

8. Oregon Ducks

So much for the advanced metrics saying the Ducks were the best team in the Pac-12. All that matters is they now finish the season at 11-2 with both losses coming to Washington. And that means they have no shot at making it into the Playoff. 

There’s no question that Dan Lanning’s Oregon team looked far more dominant throughout the second half of the regular season than the rival Huskies. But one thing it often seemed that people were overlooking was a substantially weaker (and less taxing) schedule than Washington played. When they met for the rematch on Friday night, though, it showed. 

The Huskies simply looked more battle-tested and ready. Bo Nix didn’t deliver and likely cost himself the Heisman Trophy with a pedestrian performance. As many have said, the numbers can tell you a lot, but what happens on the field tells you more. Sorry to say it, Ducks fans, but the story on the field was that Oregon was just a step behind the Huskies.

7. Ohio State Buckeyes

If there was any hope of Ohio State making it into the College Football Playoff, the Buckeyes needed chaos to transpire on conference championship weekend – but just the right amount of chaos… not too much. 

Unfortunately, the right breaks just didn’t fall the way of Ryan Day’s team. They needed Georgia to take care of Alabama, which they didn’t. The Buckeyes needed Texas to get upset by Oklahoma State, but the Longhorns blew them out to capture the Big 12 title. That pretty much sealed the fate that OSU is heading to the New Year’s Six and not the CFP. 

Ohio State clearly proved they are one of the 10 best teams in the country, but there are still questions moving forward. Do the Buckeyes need to replace Kyle McCord in the transfer portal? Will there be coaching changes? It’s a big offseason as the Buckeyes look to figure out how to get back to the mountaintop.