2024 Week 1 12-team College Football Playoff rankings prediction
By Ryan Stano
The Louisville football team is hoping to make the College Football Playoff this year. They were in the thick of the race last year when it was just a four-team Playoff until the end of the year. They are hoping to be able to finish stronger and get a bid.
The Cardinals got some help in their pursuit of getting a bid. Florida State lost on a last-second field goal for Georgia Tech in Dublin in Week 0. They were the tenth-ranked team in the country. The Seminoles will likely drop out of the rankings completely after that performance.
That also changes how I see the 12-team College Football Playoff playing out. If you recall, I had them as the three-seed in my preseason rankings. They will not be featured in my rankings this week. It's a Big Ten team that ends up benefitting the most from their loss.
Seed | Team | Reason they are here | Previous Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
1. | Georgia | SEC Champion | 1 |
2. | Ohio State | Big Ten Champion | 2 |
3. | Oklahoma State | Big 12 Champion | 4 |
4. | Clemson | ACC Champion | 8 |
5. | Oregon | At-Large | 5 |
6. | Texas | At-Large | 6 |
7. | LSU | At-Large | 7 |
8. | Utah | At-Large | 8 |
9. | Penn State | At-Large | 10 |
10. | Notre Dame | At-Large | 11 |
11. | Michigan | At-Large | N/A |
12. | Liberty | Conference USA Champion | 12 |
With Florida State losing, that leaves just one ACC team in the Playoff. Michigan jumps in and takes the at-large bid. That doesn't mean that another ACC team doesn't have a shot to jump in and grab it. Miami and Louisville are the two leading candidates to do that.
The biggest thing going against Michigan is their schedule. It's pretty brutal this season, including a clash with Texas early in the season. They could end up losing three games this season because of that. If they do, that opens the door for someone else to jump them.
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Week 0 doesn't usually provide us with the fireworks that it did this season. It's up to other teams to take advantage of Florida State's loss. The Louisville Cardinals could be one of those teams, especially in the race for the ACC.