12-Team College Football Playoff Bracket Predictions coming off Week 11 include a ton of Heisman favorites
The road to the 2024 College Football Playoff continues to be wildly chaotic. Just one week after the very first 12-Team College Football Playoff rankings were released two of the top four teams lost, potentially shuffling around the entire bracket. What will the playoff bracket look like this week?Ole Miss took down the 2-seed Georgia. […]
The road to the 2024 College Football Playoff continues to be wildly chaotic. Just one week after the very first 12-Team College Football Playoff rankings were released two of the top four teams lost, potentially shuffling around the entire bracket. What will the playoff bracket look like this week?
Ole Miss took down the 2-seed Georgia. 3-seed Miami fell to Georgia Tech (for the second season in a row). Will both those teams still hold a spot in the playoff bracket this week? It might seem strange to see the two and three seeds drop so steeply, but at least one of them might be on their way out.
Before we dive into predicting what the bracket will look like this week, here's where things landed in the very first projections last Tuesday:
It's quite likely Oregon retains the top spot in both the rankings and the bracket, but outside of that there might be some significant changes. Based on what we learned last week and applying the results from Week 11 games, here's where the rankings most likely land for this Tuesday's rankings show.
Top 25 College Football Playoff Rankings Prediction
- Oregon
- Ohio State
- Texas
- Penn State
- Tennessee
- Indiana
- Notre Dame
- BYU
- Ole Miss
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Miami (FL)
- Boise State
- SMU
- Texas A&M
- Colorado
- Kansas State
- Washington State
- Army
- LSU
- Louisville
- Clemson
- Missouri
- Tulane
- South Carolina
Many fans have gotten used to the College Football Playoff rankings functioning rather simply. In prior years the top four teams got in, and that was it. This year though, the bracket is a bit more complicated. If you want a full run down of everything to know about the playoff you can find that here.
In short, the top four conference champions receive a first round bye. The fifth highest ranked conference champion also earns an automatic playoff bid, but they aren't guaranteed any particular seed. So, based on the Top 25 rankings above, this is how the playoff bracket would look:
This bracket is jam-packed full of potential Heisman Trophy winners. Dillon Gabriel for Oregon. Cam Ward for Miami. Ashton Jeanty with Boise State. Quinn Ewers at Texas. Jalen Milroe and his electric speed at Alabama. And even now possibly Jaxson Dart with Ole Miss. This 12-Team College Football Playoff Bracket would be stacked with elite "face of the game" talents if it actually works out this way.
Ohio State, Penn State, Tennessee, and Indiana would all host first round playoff games on campus in this particular scenario. Oregon would host the Rose Bowl, Texas the Sugar Bowl, BYU the Fiesta Bowl, and Miami (FL) the Peach Bowl.
Why those particular bowl assignments in the second round? This 12-Team College Football Playoff structure attempts to link conferences to their historically related New Year's Six Bowl games.
You may notice that despite Georgia being ranked 11th they would actually be the first team out. That is because although Miami (FL) and Boise State rank behind them, they're implied to be their respective conference champions.
The "First Four Out" would be Georgia, SMU, Texas A&M, and Colorado in this scenario. However, these next few weeks will likely shuffle these ranks up quite a bit yet again. Georgia could beat Tennessee to earn their way back in this coming weekend. SMU, Texas A&M, and Colorado could all be in line to win their conference championships. This pursuit to earn a spot in the 2024 College Football Playoff is about to get even crazier here very soon, but this (or something very similar) is likely what we're going to see this week from the selection committee.
Everything you need to know about how the College Football Playoff bracket works
The 2024-25 College Football Playoff is a historic venture. With the introduction of a 12-team bracket, fans will enjoy unprecedented competition for the first time ever. However, the new changes may confuse you about where your favorite team will play. We're breaking down how the College Football Playoff format works and have examples to give […]
We'll be back with more College Football Playoff coverage here at A to Z Sports all season long! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!
