- Week 5 caused significant shifts in the College Football Playoff picture.
- Oregon and Alabama moved into the top four after defeating Penn State and Georgia, respectively.
- Mississippi entered the playoff forecast following its win over LSU and Florida State’s loss to Virginia.
The schedule for Week 5 was always going to cause chaos in the College Football Playoff picture. Three games featuring six teams ranked among the top 16 will tend to do that. However, the changes in this week’s bowl projection went beyond just those three matchups.
No. 2 Penn State and No. 3 Georgia both fell at home, moving both teams out of positions in the top four. Rising into those spots were the respective teams that beat them, Oregon and Alabama. The Crimson Tide, now forecasted as the SEC champion, are one of three teams to join field this week.
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Another beneficiary weekend’s action was Mississippi. First, the Rebels took care of business against LSU. That win came after Florida State’s shocking loss to Virginia that opened the door for Ole Miss to join the playoff. The Seminoles fell out but do have an opportunity to move back in Week 6 when they host Miami.
Another change came with the promotion of Iowa State to Big 12 champion after the Cyclones handled Arizona at home. It’s a close consideration between Matt Campbell’s team and Texas Tech, the team it replaced, and the debate may not get decided until the conference championship game with the schools not playing the regular season.
Note: Legacy Pac-12 schools in other conferences will fulfill existing Pac-12 bowl agreements through the 2025 season.