Bowl Projections 2024-25: Playoff Bracket Predictions, Scenarios After Week 8 AP Poll | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors | Bleacher Report

Oct 14, 2024

The SEC will take the college football spotlight back from the Big Ten in Week 8.

The Texas Longhorns, who once again topped the AP Top 25, put their top spot on the line against the Georgia Bulldogs in Austin on Saturday.

The three teams in between Texas and Georgia in the Week 8 poll are all from the Big Ten. The Oregon Ducks are up at No. 2, the Penn State Nittany Lions moved up a spot to No. 3 and the Ohio State Buckeyes fell to No. 4.

Each of the Big Ten title contenders will take a back seat to Texas-Georgia and the Top 11 showdown between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Tennessee Volunteers.

A reshuffling of the SEC playoff contenders could happen depending on the Week 8 results.

The Clemson Tigers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish and LSU Tigers are all lining up to feel safe about their playoff status amidst the in-fighting in the SEC and Big Ten.

Clemson's surge back into the Top 10 is significant for the ACC, a conference that has a real chance of earning two playoff bids after an awful September.

The SEC would have at least four teams in the playoff if the regular season ended now.

Those four programs face off on Saturday in what could turn out to be a week of reshuffling across the conference.

Texas is currently at No. 1, but fifth-ranked Georgia has a point to prove in that game after it stumbled against Alabama a few weeks ago.

Alabama has its own statement to make on the road at Tennessee after struggling in the two weeks after its win over Georgia.

Tennessee has not looked great in conference play, but it can change the narrative around its season with a home win over the Crimson Tide.

The Vols are in the most danger of dropping out of the playoff conversation with a loss since they sit at No. 11 in the AP poll and LSU is waiting in the wings to take their spot.

LSU is 5-1 and will be a player in the SEC during the second half of the regular season. The Tigers host Alabama on November 9 in the biggest game left on their schedule.

There's a scenario that five SEC teams get into the playoff, but that would likely require all of those teams to have two losses or fewer going into December.

Ohio State's close loss to Oregon and subsequent drop two places in the AP poll solidified the Big Ten's stance within the playoff.

Oregon, Ohio State and Penn State are all safely into the field at the moment as three of the top four teams in the country.

Ohio State and Penn State play each other on November 2, but Oregon and Penn State do not play each other, so there is a chance that each member of the trio finishes the regular season with a single loss.

If that happens, the Big Ten will have three playoff teams regardless of the result that occurs in the Big Ten Championship Game.

It's hard to see any of those three teams slipping up outside of head-to-head clashes, so as long as no upsets happen, the Big Ten will at least have three CFB Playoff participants.

The 6-0 Indiana Hoosiers appear to be the only team that could join the trio from the Big Ten in the playoff. There's a chance Indiana could be 8-0 going into November since it plays at home in the next two weeks.

Clemson has done nothing but score since its Week 1 loss to Georgia.

The Tigers earned their fifth straight double-digit win in Week 7 over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

Dabo Swinney's team currently sits at No. 10 in the AP poll and it has a very favorable schedule ahead of it.

Clemson's only ranked opponent is the Pittsburgh Panthers and four of its final six games come at home.

The Tigers would not play the Miami Hurricanes until the ACC Championship Game, and if they enter that game at 11-1, the two teams could be locked into the playoff and only competing for the first-round bye.

Clemson's spot in the 12-team field could look even better if more ranked teams lose in the SEC, the Big Ten remains as a three-bid league and the Big 12 continues to look like a one-bid conference.