Week 7 has some monster matchups on the slate that could go a long way toward clearing up the College Football Playoff picture. Throughout Saturday’s slate, will give an updated look at the playoff seeding and matchups. Here’s everything you need to know about the current CFP race:
Update at 11:30 p.m. ET Saturday:
USC threw another wrench into the playoff bracket with the biggest win of Lincoln Riley’s tenure in Los Angeles by beating Michigan. Not only does that knock out the Wolverines, but it sets up a massive game in South Bend against Notre Dame—which is getting everything they need to happen in order to find their way back into the CFP field. The Irish are right on the bubble with the way they’ve looked the last few weeks and now it seems pretty clear they fell by a combined four points to top 10 teams with a young quarterback.
Meanwhile, the Michigan loss does create the opening that Georgia Tech needs. The Yellow Jackets lack for quality wins but they’re still undefeated and are led by the excellent Haynes King at quarterback. As long as they keep winning, they can easily move out of bubble territory to a more comfortable position in the field.
Update at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday:
If you thought last week was chaotic, Week 7 just completely doubled down on that during the 3:30 p.m. ET window that saw the College Football Playoff picture go from fairly predictable to downright crazy. There’s a case to be made, which the committee will surely do in a few weeks, that Indiana could be the No. 1 team in the country with that impressive win at Autzen Stadium—which is saying plenty in its own right. However, the Hoosiers’ lackluster nonconference slate is probably enough of an issue to keep them behind both Miami and Ohio State thanks to those wins over Notre Dame and Texas looking better by the week.
The ascent by Indiana along with Oklahoma losing in Red River also opens the door for Texas A&M to slide into one of the quarterfinal bye spots in the top four, doing just enough to hold off an Alabama team which has strung together an impressive few weeks. The Tide’s lone blemish against Florida State is tough to get over and might be the difference in Bryant-Denny Stadium hosting a first-round playoff game even if they make it to Atlanta for the SEC title game.
Speaking of the Sooners, they still have a shot to remain in the field thanks to that win over Michigan, but John Mateer’s three interceptions after returning from hand surgery is likely to be enough to keep them just outside the top 11. For now, that means Tennessee slides into the bracket based on a close loss to Georgia this season and looking a tad more consistent overall.
Update at 11 p.m. ET Friday:
After Tulane struggled a bit with East Carolina on Thursday night and USF scored in bunches on Friday night against previously undefeated North Texas, it’s time to move the Bulls slightly ahead of the Green Wave when it comes to the American’s pecking order for the Group of 5 bid. The two won’t face each other during the regular season so there’s certainly an interesting play-in scenario developing for the American conference title game if each can continue to run the table.
