After a long, difficult wait for fans all across the country, Week1 of the 2024 college football season arrived this past weekend. Now, as the dust settles on season opening weekend, we look forward to what's next.
We released a preseason prediction before action kicked off in Week 0, and most of the teams in our potential CFP bracket took care of business in Week 1. Only two teams emerge with losses -- LSU and Florida State, the latter starting 0-2 after stumbling Week 0 and Week 1.
However, there are only 12 teams that can make the playoff come the end of the year, and some of the winners were less than impressive in their victory. So this week, four new teams enter our projection, while four more wave goodbye -- for now.
How are these rankings determined?
Each week this season, HailWV will be releasing a prediction for what we expect the CFP field to look like -- it will not necessarily reflect what we expect the rankings themselves to look like each week, but how the field would be seeded. As a reminder, the official process for selecting the College Football Playoff (CFP) field is as follows:
"The CFP Selection Committee ranks the top 25 teams at the end of the season, and the 12 playoff participants consist of the five highest-ranked conference champions, plus the next seven highest-ranked teams. The four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded one through four and receive a first-round bye. The schools seeded five through eight will host those seeded nine through 12 in first-round games. The quarterfinals and semifinals rotate annually among six bowl games – the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential and the Allstate Sugar Bowl."From the CFP website
So now, with some actual football having been played, let's see what our first regular season edition of the 2024-2025 CFP predictions.
PROJECTED 12-TEAM CFP FIELD ENTERING WEEK 2
Ranking | Team | Bid Type | Previous Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Georgia | SEC Champion | 1 |
2 | Ohio State | Big 10 Champion | 6 |
3 | Utah | Big 12 Champion | 4 |
4 | Miami | ACC Champion | NR |
5 | Texas | At-Large | 5 |
6 | Notre Dame | At-Large | 8 |
7 | Alabama | At-Large | 9 |
8 | Oregon | At-Large | 2 |
9 | Ole MIss | At-Large | NR |
10 | Penn State | At-Large | NR |
11 | Tennessee | At-Large | NR |
12 | Appalachian State | Sun Belt Champion (G5 Representative) | 12 |
DROPPED OUT: North Carolina State, LSU, Michigan, Florida State
In these latest projections, the SEC gains a school in the field, which gives them 5-of-12 slots. The ACC, meanwhile, loses a bid, joining the Big 12 and Group of Five conferences with just one representative.
Georgia, Ohio State, Utah, and newcomer Miami lead the way as projected conference champions and top four seeds.
Following their losses, LSU and Florida State leave the projected field. NC State also drops out --despite being our preseason ACC Champion, the Wolfpack bid farewell for now following their disappointing effort against an FCS opponent. Miami inherits their spot after walloping in-state rival and SEC opponent Florida on the road. Michigan, who seems to be struggling to find an efficient quarterback and started slow in a win against Fresno State, is also out for the time being.
Other than Miami, there are three newcomers who we had questions about entering Week 1. How many of those questions were truly answered remain to be seen, but they were dominant enough to slide into the projected field to replace those dropping out.
Ole Miss and Tennessee come in at ninth and eleventh respectively after a 76-0 (Ole Miss) and a 69-3 (Tennessee) over FCS opponents. Meanwhile, Penn State makes their first appearance at tenth following an impressive 34-12 road win over West Virginia, where Drew Allar looked like a potential Heisman candidate and Nittany Lions showed superior athleticism and skill level.