2024 Week 4 12-team College Football Playoff prediction
By Josh Yourish
With a top 5 matchup against in Tuscaloosa looming, Alabama and Georgia were both on a bye in Week 4, so the rest of the SEC took center stage, specifically, Norman Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Sooners hosted Josh Heupel and his Tennessee Volunteers in Week 4 and the first SEC contest in Oklahoma program history provided some clarity, the Sooners aren’t SEC-ready, and Tennessee is for real.
The Vols left Norman with a 25-15 win that could have been much worse. Tennessee has Alabama and a trip to Athens left on its 2024 schedule and if they’re able to split those two big games, they could get one of the top at-large bids into the 12-team College Football Playoff field. Last week I had Tennessee at No. 10, but they’ve made a significant jump among the four SEC teams I expect to get in.
If SEC supremacy is on your mind as a Georgia fan, you’ll also be happy to find that for the first time in my weekly 12-team CFP predictions, I have just three Big Ten teams. That extra spot isn’t going to a fifth program from the SEC, instead, I’m ready to tentatively make the ACC a two-bid league.
Rank | Team | Bid | Previous Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Georgia | SEC Champion | 1 |
2 | Ohio State | Big Ten Champion | 2 |
3 | Miami (FL) | ACC Champion | 3 |
4 | Utah | Big 12 Champion | N/R |
5 | Texas | At-Large | 5 |
6 | Tennessee | At-Large | 10 |
7 | Oregon | At-Large | 7 |
8 | Notre Dame | At-Large | 8 |
9 | Penn State | At-Large | 9 |
10 | Ole Miss | At-Large | 6 |
11 | Clemson | At-Large | N/R |
12 | Boise State | Mountain West Champion | N/R |
Georgia pounded Clemson in Week 1, but since then Clemson has pounded everybody else. The Tigers are 2-1 with blowout wins over App State and NC State, winning 59-35 at home in Week 4. Dabo Swinney’s team is far from Georgia’s level, but that doesn’t mean Cade Klubnik can’t lead Clemson to a CFP berth.
If Clemson can get to the ACC championship game with only one loss, the Tigers will likely meet an undefeated or one-loss Miami team and a close game will punch tickets for both teams into the CFP. The No. 11 spot was previously held by USC, but Lincoln Riley’s Trojans got bullied in Ann Arbor on Saturday which will make it tough for the Big Ten to hold onto four bids.
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