Two weeks to go until we find out which 12 teams will be competing in the College Football Playoff for 2025 . At the moment, there are 16 teams legitimately still in the running. And a lot more who are not, including…
The Pretenders:
The Big 12 is top heavy this season, with four truly quality teams. Two will play for the auto bid, with the loser missing out along with Utah and Arizona State.
The Big 10 is much the same, with three sure locks to get in, plus Michigan and USC …who will each miss out.
The Atlantic Coast Conference will also be a one-bid league, leaving the team most consider to be the most talented in the conference, Miami, on the outside along with Georgia Tech and Pitt.
The SEC could get five teams in, but Texas, Vanderbilt and Tennessee won’t be part of the playoff.
The Contenders:
One bid only:
The Group of Five conferences will play it out in their conference title games, with Tulane being the leader at the moment. North Texas needs help but is still very much alive, as is James Madison, who appears to have a clean path to their conference title.
The ACC title game will determine which single team represents the conference in the playoff. It won’t be Miami, considered by most the best team in the league. It’s likely to be SMU, which is rolling and should knock Virginia out of the mix. If the Cavaliers pull the upset, they’re in and SMU joins Miami on the outside.
ACC almost sort-of a member Notre Dame will also get in because they’re Notre Dame, not because they’ve beaten any really good teams.
BYU and Texas Tech are the class of the Big 12 this season. Tech whipped the Cougars 26-7 a couple weeks ago to establish themselves as the favorite for the rematch in the Big 12 title game. If Tech wins as expected, then BYU will be out. If BYU pulls the upset, then the Big 12 will likely be a bid stealer and either Notre Dame or Oklahoma will be out.
Multiple bids coming:
The Big Ten title game will feature Indiana unless you-know-where freezes over first. Top-ranked Ohio State – who missed the title game last season but still won the national championship – is likely to finally beat Michigan this Saturday and should be the opponent for the second-ranked Hoosiers. Regardless of who wins that game, they’re both going to be in the playoff. Same with Oregon, who’s only loss is the Indiana and who will make the field. Oregon gets a rematch with Indiana if Michigan beats Ohio State…again.
A total of FIVE SEC teams will get in, in some sort of order, depending on who gets into the title game. Nevertheless, based on strength of record, it’s hard to argue that all five, Texas A&M, Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss, Oklahoma aren’t deserving at this moment.
That could change if ‘Bama suffers it’s third loss in the Iron Bowl against Auburn (two losses to unranked teams won’t get you in. Two-loss Oklahoma likewise can’t afford a third loss against LSU, nor a BYU upset of Texas Tech.
Georgia is probably still in with a loss to Georgia Tech; same for Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl with Mississippi State. A&M is still in, but will be seeded much lower if they lose to Texas.
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