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ESPN’s panel of college football experts updated their College Football Playoff predictions 1 last time as we leave a riveting regular season behind and march forward to December and Championship Weekend.
The 2024 season is a whole different animal when it comes to the Playoff, which for the 1st time will feature 12 teams instead of the 4-team format that the sport had for the previous decade.
Rankings by the 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 1-4 and receive first-round byes. Seeds 5-12 will play on-campus, first-round games (No. 12 at No. 5, No. 11 at No. 6, etc.).
How will the SEC be represented in the inaugural 12-team Playoff? Well, of ESPN’s 13 experts, 11 of them had Texas at No. 2. The Longhorns completed a 11-1 regular season with Saturday night’s victory at Texas A&M, and as a reward they get a chance at payback in the SEC title game against Georgia, the only team they lost to in the regular season.
Speaking of those Bulldogs, Kirby Smart’s team survived an 8-overtime thriller against Georgia Tech on Black Friday and was ranked No. 2 by the 2 ESPN experts who didn’t have Texas in that spot. That means the SEC had complete ownership of the No. 2 ranking with Texas and Georgia, as the experts presumed that whoever wins Saturday’s SEC title game will grab that No. 2 spot behind No. 1 Oregon.
The ESPN experts all float Tennessee, Alabama and, yes, South Carolina as Playoff possibilities, as the trio of SEC teams battle for at-large spots behind sure things Texas and Georgia.
Here are the latest Playoff picks from ESPN’s 13 experts:
Andrea Adelson: 1. Oregon 2. Texas 3. SMU 4. Boise State 5. Penn State 6. Notre Dame 7. Indiana 8. South Carolina 9. Georgia 10. Tennessee 11. Arizona State 12. Ohio State
Kyle Bonagura: 1. Oregon 2. Texas 3. SMU 4. Boise State 5. Notre Dame 6. Ohio State 7. Penn State 8. Georgia 9. Tennessee 10. Indiana 11. Alabama 12. Arizona State
Bill Connelly: 1. Oregon 2. Texas 3. SMU 4. Arizona State 5. Notre Dame 6. Penn State 7. Georgia 8. Tennessee 9. Indiana 10. Ohio State 11. Boise State 12. Miami
David Hale: 1. Oregon 2. Texas 3. SMU 4. Boise State 5. Notre Dame 6. Penn State 7. Georgia 8. Tennessee 9. Ohio State 10. Indiana 11. Arizona State 12. Miami
Eli Lederman: 1. Oregon 2. Texas 3. SMU 4. Boise State 5. Notre Dame 6. Penn State 7. Georgia 8. Tennessee 9. Ohio State 10. Indiana 11. South Carolina 12. Arizona State
Chris Low: 1. Oregon 2. Georgia 3. SMU 4. Boise State 5. Texas. 6. Notre Dame. 7. Ohio State 8. Tennessee 9. Penn State 10. Indiana 11. South Carolina 12. Arizona State
Harry Lyles Jr.: 1. Oregon 2. Texas 3. SMU 4. Arizona State 5. Notre Dame 6. Penn State 7. Georgia 8. Tennessee 9. Indiana 10. Ohio State 11. Boise State 12. Miami
Max Olson: 1. Oregon 2. Texas 3. SMU 4. Arizona State 5. Penn State 6. Notre Dame 7. Georgia 8. Ohio State 9. Indiana 10. Tennessee 11. Boise State 12. Miami
Adam Rittenberg: 1. Oregon 2. Texas 3. SMU 4. Boise State 5. Notre Dame 6. Penn State 7. Georgia 8. Tennessee 9. Ohio State 10. Indiana 11. Arizona State 12. South Carolina
Mark Schlabach: 1. Oregon 2. Georgia 3. SMU 4. Boise State 5. Texas 6. Penn State 7. Notre Dame 8. Ohio State 9. Tennessee 10. Indiana 11. Arizona State 12. South Carolina
Jake Trotter: 1. Oregon 2. Texas 3. SMU 4. Boise State 5. Penn State 6. Notre Dame 7. Georgia 8. Ohio State 9. Tennessee 10. Indiana 11. South Carolina 12. Arizona State
Paolo Uggetti: 1. Oregon 2. Texas 3. SMU 4. Boise State 5. Penn State 6. Notre Dame 7. Georgia 8. Tennessee 9. Ohio State 10. Indiana 11. Arizona State 12. South Carolina
Dave Wilson: 1. Oregon 2. Texas 3. SMU 4. Boise State 5. Penn State 6. Notre Dame 7. Georgia 8. Ohio State 9. Tennessee 10. Indiana 11. South Carolina 12. Arizona State
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
