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Jon Joseph

CBS Sports Projects the 2024-25 College football Sweet 16

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Posted (edited)
WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM

With the Sweet 16 on the mind, these teams are in the best spot to take advantage of the new 12-team field

 

Oregon and Ohio State are both projected to make the 16-team field with Ohio State claiming a 1st round bye as the B1G champ. Michigan and Penn State are also projected to make the Sweet 16.

 

Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss, Bama, Mizzou, and Oklahoma all in the field? Six SEC teams in the field. This could happen but Oklahoma should be replaced by LSU.

 

The Sooners lost its entire starting OL; 5 newbies will be starting in front of a 1st year-starting QB Jackson Arnold. In the bowl game, Arnold put up 361 pass yards against Arizona and he also threw 3 picks. Oklahoma's schedule is ranked the 2nd most difficult behind Florida, in the SEC.

 

Mizzou plays 2 games vs the top 25 preseason teams. Bama in Tuscaloosa and Oklahoma in CoMo. If Mizzou goes 10-2, loses these 2 games, and makes the playoff field something is wrong.

 

Georgia plays Texas, Alabama, and Ole Miss. Bama plays Georgia at home but is on the road against Oklahoma and LSU. And with Saint Nick's departure, the game at Wisconsin could be interesting. Ole Miss misses Bama but plays Georgia in Oxford, and plays lightweight opponents OOC. Like Bama, Ole Miss plays at LSU. 

 

I see 4 SEC teams in the field and maybe five but six? This happens and B1G commissioner Tony Petitti best make a ruckus about the SEC playing eight conference games in 2024 and 2025. 

 

The B12 with 3 teams in the field? How about, "NO!" Utah? Utah has lost at least eight games in four of the last five seasons. Arizona? Without Fisch and some of the guys he took with him? OK State was blown out in 2023 by both UCF and Texas. I think the ACC has a better shot of placing two teams in the field, Clemson and FSU than the B12 getting more than one team in the field. 

 

Liberty? Back-to-back seasons without a P4 opponent, the toughest game is versus No. 77-ranked App State.

The Flames will make it in if the committee cares nothing about SOS. Unfortunately, until proven otherwise, the committee cares only about wins and losses and not about the teams you played.

 

Get your popcorn ready.

Edited by Jon Joseph
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Utah has lost at least 8 games 4 of last 5 seasons??.

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College Football News's (CFN) Pete Fiutak is one of the better CFB prognosticators. 

 

B1G - PO Contenders - Ohio State 12-0, Oregon 11-1, Penn State 10-2, Ls to SC and Ohio State, USC 10-2 Ls vs. LSU, and at Michigan could, depending on the tie-breaker(s) have USC 8-1 with a projected Ducks 11-1 record with the loss coming against Ohio State, playing the Buckeyes in the B1G title game. SC in 2024 misses both Ohio State and Oregon.

 

This would not be all that bad of an outcome for the Ducks. At 11-1, Oregon would be a playoff lock and with the B1G champ game in Indianapolis, have one fewer trip to the Eastern time zone. In 2024 there will be a two-week delay before the 1st playoff games are played and not 30 days +.

 

CFN projects that 14 B1G teams will be bowl-eligible.

 

CFN is far less sanguine when it comes to SEC playoff possibilities than are the majority of the 'experts.' CFN has UGA 12-0 in, and LSU and Texas at 10-2 in the playoff mix. Bama, OK, Ole Miss, and Tennessee are projected to finish 9-3, with Mizzou going 8-4. I'd like to see this happen.

 

ACC teams in the playoff mix - 10-2 Clemson and 10-2 FSU with Clemson losing to Georgia and on the road against LSU. FSU's losses come on the road vs Miami (9-3) and Notre Dame. If this plays out FSU would have the tie-breaker edge and as a top 4 seed would have a 1st-round playoff bye.

 

B12 - Utah at 10-2 is the only B12 team projected to have 10 wins. K State and Oklahoma State are both projected to finish 9-3. 

 

If the CFN projections play out a 9-3 team could be in the playoff field. 

 

 

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Posted (edited)
On 3/28/2024 at 2:45 PM, JDuck said:

Utah has lost at least 8 games 4 of last 5 seasons??.

Thank you, JD for pointing this error out. It should have been 4 and not 5 losses in the last 5 seasons excluding the COVID season of the witch.

 

2018 - 9-5; 2019 -11-3; (COVID 3-2); 2021 - 10-4; 2022 - 10-4; 2023 8-5. 

 

The 2023/24 loss to Northwestern in the Las Vegas Bowl, 7-14, was a particularly bad loss considering the QB that took down USC started the game for the Utes. 

Edited by Jon Joseph
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