Week 8 unfolded in quite an exciting manner and if the pace continues, there’s going to be quite a shuffle in the college football playoffs. Following the teams’ performances last week, ESPN’s Greg McElroy gave an updated version of his top 15 CFP teams. 

In a video posted by ESPN CFB on YouTube on October 22, McElroy named his best teams with Oregon stealing the spotlight at No. 1. Georgia ranks No. 2. Penn State and Ohio State take the No. 3 and 4 spots, respectively while Miami is No. 5. Texas sits at No. 6 after losing to Georgia in Week 8. This is followed by Tennessee at No. 7 and Notre Dame at No. 8. BYU takes the No. 9 spot while Indiana surfaced at No. 10. LSU and Texas A&M stood at No. 11 and 12, respectively. The last three on the list are Iowa State, Clemson, and Alabama.

After their last defeat, Alabama and Clemson fell out of the 12-team playoff contention. But even as of now, SEC leads the CFP odds with five programs among the top 12 – Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, LSU, and Texas A&M. The Big Ten is the second leader with four schools – Oregon, Penn State, Ohio State, and Indiana. The ACC has two schools in the top 12, Miami and Notre Dame while the Big 12 has BYU. 

The latest NCAA 12-team college football playoff rules that the top 1-4 teams will receive a first-round bye. This means Oregon and Georgia will not be playing in the first round as the No. 5-12 teams play. SEC’s rising star Texas just fell in a messy defeat against Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs and will also fall into the lower-seeded games. 

SEC teams face unexpected shuffles in their rankings

Just one game can make a stark difference in your rankings. Take it from Texas and Georgia who were No. 1 and No. 5 before their conference clash. The 30-15 defeat that Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns suffered stripped their position to No. 6 while Georgia upped their game to No. 2. The SEC leaders are both 6-1 into the season but other teams like LSU and Texas A&M are still undefeated in the conference. Tennessee also delivered a 24-17 upset over Alabama to throw the Crimson Tide out of the playoff contention. 

If the regular season ended today, this is what the playoffs would look like with this Week 8 prediction by McElroy. No. 5 Miami vs. No. 12 Texas A&M, No. 6 Texas vs No. 11 LSU, No. 7 Tennessee vs No. 10 Indiana, and No. 8 Notre Dame vs. No. 9 BYU. No. 4 Ohio State will face the winner of the Miami-Texas A&M game, No. 3 Penn State will meet the Texas-LSU winner, No. 2 Georgia will play against the winner of the Tennessee-Indiana game, and No. 1 Oregon will have a game with the the Notre Dame-BYU winner.