The chase for the College Football Playoff’s 12 available spots is heating up with just two weeks left in the regular season, and thus many analysts are trying their hands at projecting the field as things currently stand.
ESPN’s Heather Dinich has been releasing weekly predictions, and her Week 13 update included five SEC teams ranked within her top 12, with all of them qualifying for the final bracket.
Still-undefeated Texas A&M was Dinich’s highest-ranked squad from the conference at No. 3, as although the Aggies had to mount a furious rally to beat lowly South Carolina, Mike Elko‘s team still boasts pristine metrics:
The Aggies needed the biggest comeback in school history to beat 3-7 South Carolina 31-30, and keep their No. 3 spot and unblemished record. Of the top-three teams, the Aggies had the best strength of record (No. 1) and strength of schedule (No. 15) entering Week 12. Texas A&M’s win at Notre Dame remains one of the best nonconference victories in the country, but it’s also the Aggies’ only one against a current CFP top-25 team. The road win at Mizzou helps the Aggies’ résumé, but was tempered in the room because it came against the Tigers’ freshman backup quarterback Matt Zollers, who was playing for injured starter Beau Pribula.
Georgia slotted in at No. 4 thanks to its blowout win over Texas on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Ole Miss landed at No. 6 after it pulled away from Florida, and the Rebels appear to have the inside track into the CFP as long as they can avoid an upset to Mississippi State in the season finale. But as Dinich points out, a second loss could prove to be more damming than many think for Lane Kiffin & Co:
Ole Miss has only two road wins — Sept. 6 at Kentucky and Oct. 25 at Oklahoma. With the No. 34 schedule strength entering this week and just one CFP top-25 win, a second loss could be more damaging to the Rebels’ playoff hopes than it might appear.
Oklahoma made the biggest statement of the weekend by upending Alabama in Tuscaloosa, a result that boosted the Sooners’ chances of reaching the CFP to 52.3%. Dinich ranks OU at the No. 8 spot and believes Brent Venables‘ side just needs to close out home dates with Mizzou and LSU to qualify.
And lastly, Alabama slides in at No. 9 following its aforementioned defeat. The Crimson Tide still boast one of the strongest résumés in the nation, but Notre Dame provides contention purely because its pair of defeats were to much stronger foes.
Parker is currently the sports editor for the Enterprise-Journal in McComb, Mississippi. He's a graduate from Mizzou who has experience covering the Tiger football and basketball beats for SB Nation, and he's worked for a variety of sports news outlets in the past.
