NCAA Football Playoff 2014: Latest Predictions After Week 5 Standings
After Week 5's action, nothing major should change at the top of the polls, nor should the top four teams on track to reach the first ever College Football Playoff have changed.
The No. 2 Oregon Ducks, No. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide and No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners were all idle. That left only the No. 1 Florida State Seminoles in action.
The Noles nearly lost to the unranked NC State Wolfpack, but a second-half rally saved the defending national champions from disaster. In the end, the 'Noles remained undefeated after a 56-41 win.
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If the season ended today, these are the four teams that would likely be playing for the national championship:
- Florida State
- Oregon Ducks
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Oklahoma Sooners
That's the way the playoff brackets would look if things were decided today, but there's still a long way to go. Based on what we've seen thus far, there's reason to believe there could be a shift down the road.
Even with the shift, the teams should remain the same.
Predictions for the Top Four Spots
1. Oregon Ducks
Expect the Ducks to take over the top spot simply because they have a tougher schedule than the Noles. Finishing with an unblemished record—as I predict they will—would be more impressive.
Oregon still has games at UCLA and at home against Stanford. Those contests ensure Oregon's route to perfection will be more difficult.
Normally, the Ducks are a program that gets to the cusp of an undefeated season and has the wheels come off late. This year, things will be different and a lot of that is because of the leadership of Marcus Mariota.
We've seen him rally the troops twice this year already. He brought his team back against the Michigan State Spartans and the Washington State Cougars in Week 4.
His leadership will keep Oregon undefeated heading into the Pac-12 title game.
2. Florida State Seminoles
As shaky as the Seminoles have looked this season, they only have one game remaining against a team that is currently ranked.
Notre Dame will come to Tallahassee on Oct. 18. Aside from that, Florida State has five of its eight games left on the schedule at home before the ACC title game.
The team isn't as sharp as it was last season, but it's still good enough to push through this schedule unscathed.
3. Oklahoma Sooners
The Sooners' schedule is rather friendly the rest of the way. Sure, they have to tangle with Baylor, Kansas State and Oklahoma State, but all three of those games are at home.
If there are top-four teams set up to run the table, it's the Sooners and the Seminoles.
4. Alabama Crimson Tide
There's almost no way you can imagine Alabama emerging without at least one loss at the end of the regular season. Then it figures to have its hands full in the SEC title game.
With road games at Ole Miss and LSU, there's obvious reason for concern. There are also home games against Texas A&M and Auburn in the Iron Bowl in the regular-season finale.
You have to think Bama drops one of those games. Still, based on strength of schedule, the Tide will likely be the strongest one-loss team in the nation.
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