Projected College Football Playoff rankings ahead of Week 13 reveal

Even if coaches like Georgia’s Kirby Smart have questions about how the committee does its job.

“I don’t know what they’re looking for,” Smart said. “I really don’t. I wish they could really define the criteria. I wish they could do the eyeball test where they come down here and look at the people we’re playing against and look at them. And you can’t see that stuff on TV. So I don’t know what they look for, but that’s for somebody else to decide. I’m worried about our team.”

While waiting for the week 13 rankings to be revealed, here are projections from the AJC sports staff and the national media. These are the predicted final rankings rather than a prediction of what the week 13 rankings will be.

Projected College Football Playoff rankings

Gabe Burns, AJC:

Analysis: I expect the Big Ten title game winner at No. 1 with the runner-up at No. 5. Alabama defeats Texas in a competitive conference championship here. The two-loss SEC runner-up Longhorns – despite having only one ranked win, which would be over Texas A&M – are in, and I don’t think the committee will punish them for the conference-title-game loss. There isn’t a “right” answer for seeding No. 6 through 11 (I’d have Penn State lower if these were opinion over projection). It’s beautiful craziness. The potential gripe: 11-1 Indiana, having only lost to OSU in this scenario, is left out. Life isn’t fair; that includes college football.

Jeff Sentell, AJC & DawgNation:

Analysis: There’s a lot I don’t like about where I feel the committee will rank teams like Penn State, Notre Dame and Indiana. That said, I like the chaos that will come when Ohio State gets Oregon in the Big 10 championship. DawgNation would welcome Georgia’s projected path to the national championship through outmanned Indiana and the ACC champion Miami Hurricanes.

Kaylee Mansell, AJC & DawgNation:

Analysis: The SEC championship game plays a big role in my seeding. Ultimately, Alabama takes the win over Texas making them the top-seeded SEC team. Since Texas only has 2 losses the committee still puts them in over Tennessee but not higher than UGA due to head-to-head. Ole Miss having a higher strength of schedule gets last in over Tennessee despite early losses.

Mike Griffith, AJC & DawgNation:

Analysis: I’m expecting Indiana to beat Ohio State but ultimately lose to Oregon in the Big Ten Championship Game, while in the “other” conference of relevance being considered by the Big Ten Committee, I mean, College Football Playoff Committee, Texas will win out the regular season but lose to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. The Big 12 and ACC will have on-brand reps Miami and Colorado making headlines for their respective leagues as conference championship game winners, and Notre Dame will win out and secure an at-large berth.

Connor Riley, AJC & DawgNation:

Analysis: Georgia, based on its all-around resume is able to grab a home and would face Indiana in Sanford Stadium in the first round. Missing from this field would be Alabama, after a loss to Texas in the SEC championship game. The committee will have a tough decision to make between a potential 3-loss Alabama and a 2-loss Tennessee, given Tennessee beat Alabama head-to-head.

Bud Elliott, CBS Sports:

Heather Dinich, ESPN:

Stewart Mandel, The Athletic:

Andy Staples, On3: