Kirk Herbstreit’s top six college football teams: Gators move up

College football analyst Kirk Herbstreit released his College Football Playoff contenders including Notre Dame, BYU, Clemson, & Florida.

ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit released his latest edition of College Football Playoff contenders following another week of action. Notre Dame prevailed over Clemson in double overtime and Florida defeated Georgia 44-28 in Jacksonville, Florida.

The race for the CFP is starting to play itself out. The Big 12 is essentially eliminated from CFP contention, although Oklahoma State could win out and finish the season with only one loss.

Now, the SEC only has three teams with high hopes for making the playoff: Alabama, Florida, and Texas A&M. Texas A&M did beat Florida, but trails Alabama by two games in the SEC West.

Interestingly, Kirk Herbstreit ranks the Gators over the Aggies even though Texas A&M won their head-to-head game. That being said, if Florida loses to Alabama in the SEC Championship and Texas A&M wins out, then the Aggies will have a playoff argument.

The problem for the Aggies is they don’t have many impressive wins on their resume outside of Florida. Additionally, they’ll have to cheer against Notre Dame and Clemson in the ACC. The Fighting Irish and Tigers will likely have a rematch in the ACC Championship game. Both Notre Dame and Clemson could make the playoff if they don’t lose before the ACC Championship.

Ohio State is favored to represent the Big Ten in the College Football Playoff following their limited season. Will any College Football Playoff hopefuls emerge from the Pac-12? The Pac-12 is a little bit late to the action.

Here’s how Kirk Herbstreit ranked the top teams in college football:

Overall, the rankings look pretty solid. BYU has been impressive, but their schedule has been exceedingly easy, so it is tempting to rank Texas A&M over the Cougars.

Aside from that, the rankings look good. Notre Dame deserves to be ranked over Ohio State due to their body of work. The Fighting Irish are 7-0 and Ohio State is only 3-0.

Dropping from Herbstreit’s rankings are the Georgia Bulldogs, who no longer have a realistic shot at the College Football Playoff.

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