University of North Florida Professor of Operations Management and Quantitative Methods Dr. Jay Coleman recently came out with a very fascinating study pertaining to the College Football four-team Playoff ranking system.

Dr. Coleman made predictions using a formula based on strongly consistent patterns found in the selection committee’s weekly rankings from the 2014 and ’15 seasons. Should the current committee follow the same patterns this year, Dr. Coleman believes the following ranking below will match up closely with the actual ranking.

Of course, this is based upon conjecture and isn’t a concrete certainty. According to Dr. Coleman, here’s his ranking of the top-10 teams:

  1. Alabama
  2. Michigan
  3. Clemson
  4. Louisville
  5. Washington
  6. Ohio State
  7. Nebraska
  8. Texas A&M
  9. Wisconsin
  10. Baylor

The rest of the SEC rankings are as followed:

13. Auburn
14. Florida
16. Tennessee
21. LSU
33. Ole Miss
40. Arkansas
50. Vanderbilt
52. Georgia
54. Kentucky
66. Missouri
86. Mississippi State
89. South Carolina

The first official ranking by the College Football Playoff committee will be released on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN