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ESPN updates projected College Football Playoff field after wild Week 5

Sydney Hunte

By Sydney Hunte

Published:

ESPN released its projected College Football Playoff field following a memorable slate of games in Week 5.

The day started with Kentucky going to Ole Miss and defeating the then-No. 6 team in the country. It ended with Alabama nearly blowing a big halftime lead before freshman star Ryan Williams’s touchdown catch late in the 4th quarter ensured a win for the Tide against Georgia.

As such, here’s the projected top 12 if the CFP were to begin today, according to ESPN’s Heather Dinich:

  1. Alabama
  2. Texas
  3. Tennessee
  4. Ohio State
  5. Georgia
  6. Penn State
  7. Oregon
  8. Miami
  9. Clemson
  10. Michigan
  11. Kansas State
  12. Ole Miss

As you can see, 4 SEC teams are in Dinich’s projected top 12: Ohio State, Penn State, Oregon, and Michigan. That said, the projected CFP top 12 wouldn’t correlate to the actual playoff seeding given the five highest-ranked conference champions will make the field, with the top four among those teams receiving a first-round bye. The remaining seven spots will be given out on an at-large basis regardless of conference.

As for the actual CFP rankings, the first batch of those will be released on Nov. 5, leading up to Selection Day on Dec. 8.