2024 Week 0 12-team College Football Playoff rankings prediction

Last year with a 63-3 win in the Orange Bowl, Georgia proved that Florida State didn’t belong in the 2023 four-team College Football Playoff, and this season with a 24-21 win in Week 0, Georgia Tech proved that the Seminoles may not belong this year either. 

FSU started the season ranked at No. 10 in the country and Mike Norvell’s team was the favorite to win the ACC title. However, their 0-1 start with a conference loss will make it an uphill battle the rest of the way and swings the door wide open for Clemson, Miami, or even a dark horse like Virginia Tech or SMU. 

Speaking of an ACC upset, in SMU’s first game representing its new conference, Rhett Lashlee’s Mustangs struggled in Reno and nearly fell to Nevada. With a late touchdown drive from Preston Stone, SMU’s CFP hopes are still alive, but the team’s performance was not a good sign for Year 1 in a Power 4 conference. 

The Week 0 slate only featured four games, but it still had a major surprise that will shake up plenty of CFP predictions. However if, like me, you were already fading the Noles this season, then you can simply run it back with the same 12-team prediction. 

The ACC could be nearly as tough to predict as the Big 12, without a truly dominant force at the top, but with Clemson now the betting favorite and Miami No. 2, I’m happy to ride with the Hurricanes to snag a top-4 seed and the conference crown.