Big Natural’s CFP Projections: Week 7, 2018

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I swore I wouldn’t do this column anymore. No one read it last year – seriously, I would get maybe 20 hits on a good week. After that, I said, “there’s no point in doing these anymore,” and I canceled the column. Well…I couldn’t keep it at bay any longer…I’ve decided to resurrect the beast. Luck be a lady tonight and that’s showbiz, baby. LFG.

Two years ago, I painted a pretty clear picture of why college football needs an eight-team playoff.  I stand by that argument – eight is the way…no more, no less. So, I’ve started a new weekly column looking at what the College Football Playoff would look like under my format. I think it’s a reasonable way to determine a National Champion without leaving deserving candidates out, but making sure everyone has an equal chance to get in. With that said, let’s dive right in to my weekly College Football Playoff projections…

So, this is it – this is what the playoff teams would look like for 2018 under my format…

BIG NATURAL’S COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF PROJECTIONS

1. Alabama Crimson Tide (SEC Champion) – Missouri played Alabama tougher than anyone else has all season long, but it still wasn’t enough. Tua Tagovailoa went down with a knee sprain, and it still wasn’t enough. Through the first seven weeks of the season, the Crimson Tide is the class of college football. It certainly seems like they’re getting comfortable in that #1 spot.

2. Ohio State Buckeyes (Big Ten Champion) – Another big win for the Buckeyes and another big game for Heisman contender Dwayne Haskins. It’s starting to look like we’re destined for an Alabama-Ohio State National Championship.

3. Clemson Tigers (ACC Champion) – On a bye week, the Tigers need the rest to get ready for a tough, undefeated NC State Wolfpack squad that will be thinking ‘upset’ this weekend.

4. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Wild Card #1) – It wasn’t pretty, but you have to give this Irish team credit for putting away Pittsburgh. That was tough and gritty, but Notre Dame survives and advances. I don’t think there’s any question about whether they belong in the CFP discussion any longer.

5. Texas Longhorns (Big 12 Champion) – Do we really think Oklahoma is not the best team in the Big 12? Nah, I don’t think so, but this week, the Longhorns are the big beneficiaries of West Virginia losing. They own the head-to-head over the Sooners, so the road to a Big 12 Championship goes through them.

6. Oregon Ducks (Pac 12 Champion) – The Pac-12’s hopes of an actual playoff berth died when the Ducks upset the Washington Huskies on Saturday. Thankfully, in my fake made up rankings, the conference champ gets a spot no matter what. Oregon looks like the best team in the Pac-12 right now.

7. LSU Tigers (Wild Card #2) – Can’t help but be impressed by how Michigan has responded after losing to Notre Dame to start the season, but their resume just doesn’t compare to LSU’s. The Tigers now own three top 10 wins on the season (Miami, Auburn, and Georgia were all top 10 teams at the time of the game). They’re going to make this an interesting race in the SEC.

8. UCF Golden Knights (Group of Five Representative) – Memphis almost caused chaos for this spot on Saturday, but UCF came back to steal a 31-30 win. It’s business as usual here, as Cincinnati and South Florida are the only real threats to this spot.

So, that gives us…

(8) UCF at (1) Alabama
(5) Texas at (4) Notre Dame
(7) LSU at (2) Ohio State
(6) Oregon at (3) Clemson

Real Talk

Tonight, the College Football Playoff committee will announce their first rankings of the season. So, I figured I’d offer up my predictions for how they’ll vote:

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Notre Dame
4. LSU

Would anyone be surprised to see something zany out of the committee, though? The same group of people who had Texas A&M at #4 when they had no business even being in the top 10. I’m going to call it now – they put LSU in over Clemson.

Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley

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