ATLANTA–For the next four Tuesdays, 11Alive Sports shall walk the plank of potential embarrassment ... by projecting the College Football Playoff rankings.
And in case you weren't aware, the second Playoff rankings become public later tonight!
It's worth noting: Our projections will only focus on the imminent CFP rankings.
In other words, we won't be making a case for the final foursome ... until at least mid-November.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF PROJECTIONS
1. ALABAMA (9-0)
REASONS TO SUPPORT THIS RANKING
**Uh, 29-0 says it all.
There's also this: Alabama would likely be a double-digit-point favorite against any Playoff participant; and for the Crimson Tide to actually lose ... the opposing squad would need at least 35 points to do so.
In other words, good luck with that.
**Alabama leads the country in scoring offense and total offense.
**If the voting ended today ... QB Tua Tagovailoa would be the runaway Heisman Trophy winner.
**Alabama boasts top-11 rankings with scoring defense and total defense.
**The Crimson Tide have been atop the AP and coaches polls every week.
**Alabama's average victory margin stands at 37.9 points.
**Legacy matters, Part I: Alabama has made every College Football Playoff since its inception.
**Legacy matters, Part II: Nick Saban has claimed five of the last nine national titles.
REASONS TO DISMISS THIS RANKING
Seriously?
2. CLEMSON (9-0)
REASONS TO SUPPORT
**Clemson owns an average victory margin of 51 points in its last four ACC outings (Wake Forest, Florida State, NC State, Louisville).
**The Tigers are one of four unbeaten teams listed in the top 10 (along with 'Bama, Notre Dame, UCF).
**The star-studded defensive line garners most of the attention (and rightfully so), but the Clemson offense deserves props for its impressive balance.
a) Freshman Trevor Lawrence (1,549 yards passing, 18 TDs, 65.4-percent completion rate) has been a rock at quarterback.
b) The three-headed rushing attack of Travis Etienne (1,045 total yards, 16 TDs), Lyn-J Dixon (11.1 yards per carry) and Adam Choice have been great during crunch time.
**Texas A&M wasn't ranked at the time of Clemson's narrow road win from September; but it's imperative for the Aggies to keep winning and indirectly boosting the Tigers' Playoff resume.
Every little bit helps.
**Given the school's decorated success from previous years (one national title, three straight semifinal berths), an undefeated Clemson would be an easy top-2 pick for the four-team Playoff.
Consequently, a lackluster opponent for the ACC title game (Pitt, Virginia Tech, Miami, Virginia ... or maybe even Georgia Tech) likely wouldn't hinder the Tigers' chances of earning an elite-level seed.
Just win, baby!
REASONS TO DISMISS
The ACC Atlantic race comes down to Saturday 's showdown: Clemson @ Boston College.
3. NOTRE DAME (9-0)
REASONS TO SUPPORT
**The Irish have five solid wins on their resume–vs. Michigan, vs. Stanford, at Northwestern, at Virginia Tech and the ACC Coastal-leading Pitt Panthers.
**Overall, Notre Dame has a respectable schedule full of 10 Power 5 programs, plus one service academy (Navy).
**The Playoff committee members will likely appreciate the Irish's acumen for being strong during close games.
**Notre Dame has a decent finishing kick with Florida State, Syracuse, USC (road).
**The Irish are well-balanced on offense, boasting seven tailbacks/pass-catchers with big-play availability.
**Given the immense drawing power of Notre Dame as a national brand, an undefeated Irish squad would be a certifiable lock for the Playoff.
REASONS TO DISMISS
Does Notre Dame have more NFL-worthy talent than Michigan, Georgia, LSU and Oklahoma? Probably not.
However, there's no knocking the Irish's Playoff resume, when carrying an unblemished record into November.
4. MICHIGAN (8-1)
REASONS TO SUPPORT
**The Wolverines have been red-hot since the season-opening loss to Notre Dame. During their seven-game winning streak, six outcomes involved a spread of double-digit points.
**The Michigan defense recently held three ranked opponents (Wisconsin, Michigan, Penn State) to a grand total of 27 points.
**Michigan should be overwhelming favorites for three of its final four games, including the Big Ten championship (Northwestern, Iowa, Wisconsin or Purdue).
REASONS TO DISMISS
There's nothing to dispute at this point. Of course, the trip to Ohio State looms large on the November docket (Thanksgiving weekend).
If Michigan doesn't take care of business in Columbus, the Wolverines could devolve from Playoff participants ... to Big Ten East runner-ups in the span of one afternoon.
BEST OF THE REST
5. GEORGIA (8-1)
SKINNY: Of the teams listed from 5-10 (below), only the Dawgs would be guaranteed a top-2 Playoff ranking, upon running the table from this point forward.
Why is that? Georgia would own victories over Florida, Kentucky, Auburn, South Carolina and then Alabama (SEC title game).
That's an impossible resume to beat, especially as the SEC champs.
6. OKLAHOMA (8-1)
SKINNY: The Sooners' best win to date: A good road victory against Iowa State ... but it's still not enough to overwhelm UGA or Michigan in the second Playoff rankings.
7. WASHINGTON STATE (8-1)
SKINNY: It's fun to imagine where the Cougars might be, if they had pulled out that September thriller against USC (on the road).
Wazzu already owns rock-solid victories against Utah, Oregon and Stanford.
Bottom line: If the Playoff committee truly wants to make a splash tonight (since the top-4 should be fairly academic), they could rank Washington State ahead of Oklahoma.
8. OHIO STATE (8-1)
SKINNY: Here's an interesting hypothetical: If UGA and Ohio State rolled through the rest of the regular season, and then captured conference titles with the SEC and Big Ten, respectively ... would a one-loss, but non-SEC-champion Alabama reach the Playoff over the Buckeyes?
It's essentially the same dynamic as last season ... all the way down to Ohio State incurring yet another blowout defeat to an underwhelming Big Ten West team.
9. WEST VIRGINIA (7-1)
SKINNY: The Mountaineers vault into the top 10, thanks to the road upset versus Texas.
Quarterback Will Grier produced the game-clinching two-pointer in the final seconds.
West Virginia and Oklahoma are largely in the same position. Both schools would need to sweep the impending head-to-head series (regular-season finale/Big 12 title game), over consecutive Saturdays, to make the four-team Playoff.
10. UCF (8-0)
SKINNY: Let's set the record straight here:
In my opinion, if LSU and UCF met on a neutral field 10 times, the Tigers would likely notch 8-9 victories.
However, tonight's rankings are more about the current resume, and three major factors stand out:
a) UCF, which hasn't lost in two years, crushed a Power 5 division leader (Pitt) by 31 points back in September.
b) LSU's loss to Alabama can be easily justified, at face value.
However, failing to score a single point on the Crimson Tide evokes a serious question for the masses:
Could UCF stay within 29 points of Alabama?
We believe this would be the case.
c) LSU's October defeat to Florida has quickly lost its cachet, in the wake of the Gators getting pummeled by UGA and Missouri on consecutive Saturdays.
