8. Penn State Nittany Lions
Two Big Ten teams have already been mentioned, but since they are the other top conference along with the SEC it’s no surprise that there’s another great team out there who could beat Georgia.
Penn State is another team that some college football fans are naming their No. 1 team in the country. That’s what happens when a team returns a quarterback in Drew Aller who is entering his third season as a starter. And oh yeah, Penn State did make the semifinals of the playoff last year as well.
To be fair, their path to the semifinals was SMU and Boise State, so Georgia would have made it just as far as well, but the Nittany Lions do deserve some credit.
Penn State has two tough games against Ohio State and Oregon on their schedule this season, but even if they lose both they should do no worse than 10-2. That would still be enough to make the playoff where they could make a deep run just like last season.