2024 Week 3 12-team College Football Playoff prediction
By Josh Yourish
Georgia was dominant through the first two weeks of the 2024 season, but in Week 3, the Bulldogs submitted a clunker. Kentucky had Georgia on the ropes before Kirby Smart’s team punched back in the second half to escape with a 13-12 win, aided by a cowardly punt by Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops.
Now, despite winning 42 straight regular season games, the Bulldogs slipped from No. 1 in the AP Poll, replaced by Texas. In Week 3, the Longhorns lost their quarterback, Quinn Ewers to an abdominal injury, but Arch Manning lived up to his last name. Manning led his team to a 56-7 win over UTSA, going 9/12 passing for 223 yards and four touchdowns with another score on the ground.
The health of Ewers isn’t known yet, but that, and Manning’s performance in his stead, will be massive stories between now and Georgia’s trip to Austin on October 19. Texas is No. 1 and Georgia is No. 2, but the SEC is much more than a two-horse race.
Before Georgia and Texas took the field on Saturday, No. 4 Alabama bludgeoned the Wisconsin Badgers up in Madison 42-10 behind a five-touchdown performance from Jalen Milroe. No. 5 Ole Miss has also continued to cruise with a big win over Wake Forest to get to 3-0, and No. 6 Tennessee rolled over Kent State to set up of contest of 3-0 SEC contenders in Week 4 against No. 15 Oklahoma.
Including No. 7 Missouri, six of the top seven teams in the nation are from the SEC (No. 3 Ohio State the only exception), but in my Week 3 College Football Playoff prediction, I’m sticking with just four.
Rank | Team | Bid | Previous Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Georgia | SEC Champion | 1 |
2 | Ohio State | Big Ten Champion | 2 |
3 | Miami (FL) | ACC Champion | 3 |
4 | Kansas State | Big 12 Champion | 4 |
5 | Texas | At-large | 5 |
6 | Ole Miss | At-large | 6 |
7 | Oregon | At-large | 7 |
8 | Notre Dame | At-large | 8 |
9 | Penn State | At-large | 9 |
10 | Tennessee | At-large | 10 |
11 | USC | At-large | 11 |
12 | Memphis | AAC Champion | 12 |
The Big Ten hasn’t looked as strong as the SEC so far, but the discrepancy will have to be overwhelming for the committee to include more SEC teams in the at-large spots. Both the ACC and Big 12 appear to be one-bid leagues this season, so I’ll stick with a four-four split.
I'm also still sticking with Georgia as the SEC champs. It appears more likely that, if Ewers is healthy for the matchup, the Longhorns could pull off a head-to-head win over the Bulldogs. However, his abdominal strain could linger, and even if Texas prevails in the regular season, I'll side with Georgia in the SEC Championship rematch.
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