College Football Playoff Rankings Prediction Top 20 Projection
20. Iowa Hawkeyes 4-2
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 24
The Case For This Spot: It took a wee bit too much to get by a bad Nebraska team at home, but the Hawkeyes are on a four-game winning streak, the close 21-20 loss to Northwestern is fine, and the 49-7 victory over Michigan State now looks great.
Up Next: at Illinois
19. Wisconsin Badgers 2-1
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 16
The Case For This Spot: It’ll be interesting to see just how much respect the committee continues to give a team that got trucked by Northwestern, can’t seem to play any games, and whose only wins are against Michigan and Illinois. The Badgers will drop, but they’ll stay in the top 20.
Up Next: Indiana
18. Northwestern Wildcats 5-1
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 8
The Case For This Spot: The win over Wisconsin will get a bit more credit than it should, but the Iowa win is looking more and more impressive. The loss to Michigan State on the road hurts, but the committee won’t want to rank the Badgers higher than the Wildcats.
Up Next: at Minnesota
17. Oklahoma State Cowboys 6-2
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 23
The Case For This Spot: The 50-44 win over Texas Tech wasn’t all that impressive considering the defense had a rough time, but the win over Iowa State a month ago will matter a bit more in these rankings. Handing Tulsa its only victory will get more credit.
Up Next: at TCU
16. USC Trojans 3-0
Last Week College Football Playoff Ranking: 18
The Case For This Spot: This is probably very very, wrong. The Trojans couldn’t play last week, they haven’t shown anything all that impressive – the three teams they beat are a combined 0-6 – and they’re being discussed for the top 15 on branding alone.
Up Next: Washington State