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Impact 89FM | WDBM-FM

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SRZ Playoff projections: Nov. 6

SRZ+Playoff+projections%3A+Nov.+6

Last week’s initial Playoff rankings went pretty much to form, although LSU’s elimination after a 29-0 loss to Alabama does open up a spot for Michigan and does create a bit of intrigue as to who joins the three main undefeated teams in the final four. Our Spartan Red Zone guys assess the damage after the biggest week of the regular season.

Kyle Turk (@KyleTurk5)

  1. Alabama
  2. Clemson
  3. Michigan
  4. Notre Dame
  5. Oklahoma
  6. Georgia

Michigan is playing better than their Week 1 performance would suggest, so it’s really a matter of how much the committee values the individual components of how they make their rankings. Alabama has the kind of offense that will put points on any team in the nation, as evidenced by their 29-point showing at LSU last week. With the Tide and Clemson pretty much locks, the narrative this season will have to come from somewhere else. Notre Dame’s game against Syracuse in a couple weeks is the only hope for Oklahoma and (somehow, still) Washington State. At this point, the dominoes still have to fall in a pretty improbable order to see anything outside of Bama/Clemson/Notre Dame in the top three.

Joey Ellis (@jellis1016)

  1. Alabama
  2. Clemson
  3. Notre Dame
  4. Michigan
  5. Georgia
  6. Oklahoma

At this point, it’s pretty clear that it’s Alabama and Clemson, and then everybody else. Notre Dame was able to hold off a surging Northwestern bunch last week and maintain its CFP hopes for now. I do think Dino Babers and his Syracuse squad will give the Irish all it can handle in two weeks in South Bend, but Brian Kelly has to love where his team sits in the CFP race. Michigan, coming off a resounding beatdown of Penn State, is in the driver’s seat where it currently sits. Don Brown has yet again done a masterful job orchestrating that ridiculous defense and Shea Patterson and the Wolverine offense is starting to look more and more like the one Jim Harbaugh ran in his days at Stanford. Georgia has silenced many of the naysayers over the past two weeks, comfortably rolling divisional challengers in Florida and Kentucky. The Dawgs have reignited their ground game and Jake Fromm has elevated his play in the past couple of weeks. I’m not sure they’ll knock off the Tide in Atlanta, but as of right now, Georgia is in as good a spot as it can in terms of CFP implications.

Andy Chmura (@andy_chmura)

  1. Alabama
  2. Clemson
  3. Notre Dame
  4. Michigan
  5. Georgia
  6. West Virginia

Alabama once again proved that they are the best team on the planet by blanking LSU on the road. Clemson and Notre are still Nos. 2 and 3, where they will remain so long as they stay unbeaten. With LSU out of the picture, Michigan has secured their spot in the top four, but they shouldn’t feel safe just yet. If Georgia somehow beats the Crimson Tide in the SEC championship game, it’s not unimaginable that Alabama falls to No. 4, leaving the Wolverines in the dust. West Virginia ranks ahead of Oklahoma because they finally got their big road win against Texas, whereas the Sooners’ best win was against Iowa State. Still, either Big 12 team can make the Playoff, but they’ll need help. Washington State also remains in the picture, but they also are riding on the hope that teams ahead of them lose.

Aidan Hunt (@TheAidanHunt)

  1. Alabama
  2. Clemson
  3. Notre Dame
  4. Michigan
  5. Georgia
  6. Oklahoma

If I could, I would have listed Alabama at each of the topvfour spots; they’re that good. I thought for sure that LSU would at least cover as a 14.5-point underdog against a Crimson Tide team that hadn’t faced a true test all season. While Alabama was held to a season-low in points, they also didn’t let the Tigers score a single point in a 29-0 rout that proved their dominance over college football this season.

Clemson just put up 77 points against Louisville, continuing their dominance this season over a below-average ACC. Notre Dame finally got over the hump that is Northwestern and Michigan absolutely humiliated Penn State. Outside the top four, the only pick I could see changing would be Oklahoma at No. 6, with a strong outing from West Virginia against Texas potentially being the deciding game between the two Big 12 teams.

Ryan Collins (@ryancollins524)

  1. Alabama
  2. Clemson
  3. Notre Dame
  4. Michigan
  5. Georgia
  6. Oklahoma

This week the committee has it pretty easy after the curb stomping Alabama laid on LSU in Death Valley Saturday night. ‘Bama looks to the most dominant college football team since the mid-2000s USC teams that were led by Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart and a plethora of other NFL talent. Last week I thought Clemson’s resume was not impressive but the CFP committee disagreed putting NC State at No. 21 and Syracuse at No. 19, but given the Tigers’ most recent performances, Clemson passes my eye test as the No. 2 team in America.

Notre Dame and Michigan are the next two teams both teams coming off impressive victories proves both belong, but both should be concerned if No. 5 Georgia was able to run the table and beat Alabama because it’d be hard to leave out a team like the Tide. Oklahoma with only one loss to Texas has the opportunity to rise in the upcoming weeks’ rankings with potentially beating West Virginia and Oklahoma State. Oklahoma is dangerous and I truly think they are one of the few teams that matches up well with Alabama, which is not the case with Notre Dame and Michigan.

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