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ESPN experts update College Football Playoff picks after Week 7
By Crissy Froyd
Published:
ESPN experts have updated their picks for the College Football Playoff now that Week 7 of the action is officially in the books.
It’s been a wild college football season already, and it only continues to get more interesting with an unpredictable SEC race.
Texas remains the top dog and Oregon is the talk of the town after the Ducks knocked off the Ohio State Buckeyes in a thriller, 32-21 in Autzen Stadium on Saturday. Former dark horse Miami continues to take care of business as now one of the nation’s most dominant teams.
It’s going to be a bit of a different year where the CFP and its format are concerned as it moves to a 12-team format.
The rankings by CFP selection committee will determine the bids that go to the 5 highest-ranked conference champions and the 7 highest-ranked remaining at-large teams. The top 4 conference champions will automatically be seeded at spots 1-4 and will have a first-round open date.
The 5-12 seeds will play on-campus games in the first round (No. 12 at No. 5, No. 11 at No. 6, etc). Multiple SEC teams are expected to be represented, though the number initially thought at the beginning of the season may be a bit lower.
Here’s a look at what ESPN’s analysts are sating about who will make it into the big race:
Andrea Adelson: 1. Texas 2. Oregon 3. Miami 4. BYU 5. Ohio State 6. Georgia 7. Penn State 8. Iowa State 9. Clemson 10. Alabama 11. Notre Dame 12. Boise State
Kyle Bonagura: 1. Texas 2. Oregon 3. Miami 4. Boise State 5. Ohio State 6. Penn State 7. Georgia 8. Alabama 9. BYU 10. Iowa State 11. Clemson 12. Notre Dame
Bill Connelly: 1. Texas 2. Oregon 3. Miami 4. Iowa State 5. Penn State 6. Georgia 7. Indiana 8. Alabama 9. Ohio State 10. Clemson 11. BYU 12. Army
David Hale: 1. Texas 2. Oregon 3. Miami 4. Iowa State 5. Ohio State 6. Penn State 7. Georgia 8. Alabama 9. Clemson 10. LSU 11. Boise State 12. Notre Dame
Eli Lederman: 1. Texas 2. Oregon 3. Miami 4. Iowa State 5. Georgia 6. Ohio State 7. Penn State 8. Alabama 9. LSU 10. Clemson 11. Notre Dame 12. Boise State
Chris Low: 1. Texas 2. Oregon 3. Miami 4. BYU 5. Ohio State 6. Georgia 7. Penn State 8. Alabama 9. Clemson 10. Indiana 11. Boise State 12. LSU
Harry Lyles Jr.: 1. Texas 2. Oregon 3. Miami 4. Iowa State 5. Penn State 6. Ohio State 7. Georgia 8. Indiana 9. Alabama 10. Clemson 11. BYU 12. Army
Max Olson: 1. Texas. 2. Oregon. 3. Miami. 4. Iowa State. 5. Ohio State. 6. Georgia. 7. Penn State. 8. Clemson. 9. Alabama. 10. Indiana. 11. LSU 12. Boise State.
Adam Rittenberg: 1. Texas 2. Oregon 3. Miami 4. BYU 5. Ohio State 6. Georgia 7. Penn State 8. Clemson 9. Alabama 10. Indiana 11. Iowa State 12. Boise State
Mark Schlabach: 1. Texas 2. Oregon 3. Miami 4. BYU 5. Ohio State 6. Georgia 7. Penn State 8. Clemson 9. Alabama 10. Iowa State 11. Notre Dame 12. Boise State
Jake Trotter: 1. Texas 2. Oregon 3. Miami 4. BYU 5. Ohio State 6. Penn State 7. Georgia 8. Clemson 9. Alabama 10. Iowa State 11. LSU 12. Boise State
Paolo Uggetti: 1. Texas 2. Oregon 3. Miami 4. BYU 5. Ohio State 6. Georgia 7. Penn State 8. Clemson 9. Iowa State 10. Alabama 11. Notre Dame 12. Boise State
Dave Wilson: 1. Texas. 2. Oregon. 3. Miami. 4. Iowa State. 5. Ohio State. 6. Georgia. 7. Penn State. 8. Clemson. 9. Alabama. 10. Indiana. 11. BYU 12. Boise State
Crissy covers SEC football news for Saturday Down South.