Four of the top 10 teams in the Week 4 AP poll lost in Week 5 of the college football season. Only 1 — the loser of Oregon-Penn State — was guaranteed. But Florida State fell to Virginia on Friday night. On Saturday, LSU (on the road) and Georgia (against Alabama, again) followed. Together, those results threw some wrenches in ESPN’s College Football Playoff projections.
Last week, nobody had Alabama as part of their projected field. That, of course, has changed. Surprisingly, just 1 analyst has an SEC team amongst their current top 3 squads. Texas and LSU have also fallen out of the projections entirely. Overall, though, 7 different SEC teams (including Vanderbilt!) were mentioned in this week’s compilation.
A reminder: this year’s CFP will feature 12 teams. You do not have to be a conference champion to receive a first-round bye, but the 5 highest-ranked conference champions will still earn spots in the field.
Here are the ESPN crew’s updated CFP selections:
Andrea Adelson: 1. Ohio State 2. Miami 3. Oregon 4. Ole Miss 5. Oklahoma 6. Penn State 7. Texas A&M 8. Indiana 9. Iowa State 10. Georgia Tech 11. Texas Tech 12. Memphis
Kyle Bonagura: 1. Ohio State 2. Oregon 3. Miami 4. Ole Miss 5. Oklahoma 6. Texas Tech 7. Penn State 8. Indiana 9. Alabama 10. Georgia 11. Iowa State 12. Memphis
Bill Connelly: 1. Oregon 2. Ohio State 3. Ole Miss 4. Texas A&M 5. Miami 6. Texas Tech 7. Indiana 8. Vanderbilt 9. Iowa State 10. Georgia Tech 11. Missouri 12. Memphis
Eli Lederman: 1. Ohio State 2. Oregon 3. Miami 4. Ole Miss 5. Oklahoma 6. Texas A&M 7. Indiana 8. Alabama 9. Penn State 10. Georgia 11. Texas Tech 12. South Florida
Max Olson: 1. Oregon 2. Ohio State 3. Miami 4. Penn State 5. Texas A&M 6. Ole Miss 7. Georgia 8. Texas Tech 9. Indiana 10. Alabama 11. Iowa State 12. South Florida
Adam Rittenberg: 1. Ohio State 2. Miami 3. Oregon 4. Ole Miss. 5. Oklahoma 6. Texas Tech 7. Indiana 8. Texas A&M 9. Alabama 10. Georgia 11. Penn State 12. Memphis
Mark Schlabach: 1. Ohio State 2. Oregon 3. Miami 4. Texas A&M 5. Ole Miss 6. Texas Tech 7. Oklahoma 8. Indiana 9. Alabama 10. Georgia 11. Penn State 12. South Florida
Jake Trotter: 1. Ohio State 2. Miami 3. Oregon 4. Texas A&M 5. Ole Miss 6. Indiana 7. Oklahoma 8. Alabama 9. Texas Tech 10. Georgia 11. Iowa State 12. South Florida
Paolo Uggetti: 1. Ohio State 2. Oregon 3. Miami 4. Ole Miss 5. Oklahoma 6. Texas Tech 7. Indiana 8. Texas A&M 9. Alabama 10. Georgia 11. Iowa State 12. Memphis
Dave Wilson: 1. Ohio State 2. Miami 3. Oregon 4. Ole Miss 5. Oklahoma 6. Texas Tech 7. Texas A&M 8. Indiana 9. Alabama 10. Georgia 11. Penn State 12. North Texas
