After 4 weeks of college football, these are the playoff power rankings:
1. Ohio State
The Buckeyes had a BYE in Week 4, but nothing transpired to cause me to move them from this spot. Looking at the remaining schedule, the Buckeyes only have 3 games left that are remotely losable – Illinois, Penn State, and Michigan. Win one out of three, and it’s an easy CFP berth for Ryan Day, where I wonder what elderly former head coach he will want to fight next.
2. Georgia
The Bulldogs had a BYE in Week 4, but nothing transpired to cause me to move them from the number 2 spot in my rankings. They are the favorite to win the SEC, and they could take a big step in that direction by beating Alabama this coming Saturday. Given that the Dawgs are better at every position than Florida State (except maybe offensive coordinator), I like their chances.
3. LSU
The Tigers might as well have had a BYE in Week 4 as they throttled FCS Southeast Louisiana 56-10 with Garrett Nussmeier looking like his prime 2024 self. Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Alabama, and Oklahoma all await down the road, but LSU can take a huge step towards a CFP berth by beating Ole Miss this Saturday.
4. Miami
The Hurricanes completely stifled the Florida offense en route to a 26-7 victory. They only have one game remaining where they WON’T be double-digit favorites, which is when they host Florida State in Week 6. This team should absolutely make the CFP from here, as long as they don’t have a mind-boggling loss due to coaching decisions from Mario Cristobal, which they seem to do once a year.
5. Oklahoma
The Sooners have done a lot in the first month of the season to improve their reputation from the end of 2024. But man, they are living on the razor’s edge. On the field, John Mateer is covering up a lot of issues on the offensive line. On the schedule, the Sooners have an absolute gauntlet of an SEC schedule remaining.
6. Oregon
Dan Lanning’s Ducks had another ho-hum 41-7 domination of Oregon State in the Civil War game in Week 4. Look, that has no impact on Oregon’s CFP outlook. Back-to-back games against Penn State and Indiana do. We will learn a lot about the Ducks this week when Penn State comes to town.
7. Penn State
Can I just copy and paste everything that I said about Oregon? Both teams have played putrid non-conference schedules, have a game remaining against Indiana, and play each other this week. The only difference is that Penn State also happens to play Ohio State, which places slightly more importance on “Big Game James” Franklin taking down the Ducks this week.
8. Texas A&M
The Aggies are coming off their Week 4 BYE to a date with Auburn at Kyle Field on Saturday. A&M’s schedule appears much easier now than it did in the preseason, as LSU and Texas will be the only two opponents they won’t be favored over. If the Aggies win the games they should win on paper, they’ll easily walk into the CFP. But with Marcel Reed’s accuracy concerns persisting, they could certainly drop one.
9. Texas
The Longhorns finally looked like themselves in a 55-0 dismantling of Sam Houston in Week 4. People can question me about having them here in my rankings, but I still think they are one of the best teams in the nation, and they have 3 games of consequence remaining on the schedule, in which they will be favored in two. Arch Manning and co. should be CFP-bound when the season ends.
10. Indiana
Curt Cignetti’s Hoosiers had yet another easy win in Week 4, cruising to a 63-10 victory against a clearly overmatched opponent with Fernando Mendoza throwing for 5 TDs. Wait, you mean that game wasn’t against an FCS team? It was against the formerly top-10 Illinois? Whoa. The Hoosiers are on the warpath, y’all. Look out for them to do just what they did last year.
11. Texas Tech
The Red Raiders won one of the most impactful games of the Big 12 season in Week 4, traveling to Salt Lake City and beating Utah 34-10. Even more impressively, most of that damage was done with backup QB Will Hammond. The downside is that the Big 12 is looking like a one-bid league. The only scenario where the team gets two bids is if Texas Tech goes 12-0 and loses in the Conference Championship game. The conference just didn’t do enough in the non-conference to have enough cache to get an 11-1 or 10-2 runner-up into the CFP.
12. South Florida
Byrum Brown and the South Florida Bulls hold onto this spot by default. But this spot will certainly go to the winner of the American. The conference continues to rack up more notable non-conference wins than any other Group of 5 league, with Memphis beating Arkansas in Week 4. This conference should provide fireworks over the next two months.
