Bowl Predictions 2014: Predictions for College Football Playoff After Week 11

An action-filled Week 11 in the college football world has created some major shifts in who we expect to play in the College Football Playoff. 

Auburn had been considered the best one-loss team in the nation going into the week thanks to its difficult schedule and ability to dominate quality opponents. However, a home loss to Texas A&M likely ruins any chance for the Tigers to compete for a national championship.

As a result, a wide array of teams have the ability to play their way into the conversation as the four best teams in the nation.

While you can see who would be involved in the playoff if the season ended today based on the latest rankings, here are predictions for who will still be standing at the end of the year:

Sugar Bowl	No. 1 Florida State	No. 4 TCU
Rose Bowl	No. 2 Alabama	No. 3 Oregon

The first thing most people will likely notice is the absence of current No. 1 Mississippi State. There is no question the Bulldogs deserve this spot at the moment, but the status quo will only remain as long as they are undefeated.

This will be a difficult task with a road matchup at Alabama in Week 12 as well as another road game against Ole Miss. A loss in just one of these games could be enough to knock the team out of the top four due to poor out-of-conference scheduling, as noted by Jake Trotter of ESPN.com:

Alabama will have to win home games against Mississippi State and Auburn, which will be no easy task, but the Tide have been much better at Bryant-Denny Stadium this season. Nick Saban's squad has a strong chance to win out and get a much-deserved place in the playoffs.

Florida State appeared to be almost a lock at this point with no more matchups really standing out as too difficult. However, Miami (FL) could end up causing a few problems Saturday.

Still, the Seminoles have a spot earned as defending national champions with a current undefeated record. As long as there is a zero in the loss column, this group will have a spot in the CFB Playoff.

This is despite oddsmakers not having too much respect for Jameis Winston and Co., per RJ Bell of Pregame.com (via Barrett Sallee of Bleacher Report):

The last two spots are more of a debate, although it seems like it will come down to one representative from the Pac-12 and one from the Big 12.

Oregon currently remains in good shape due to a bunch of good wins behind Marcus Mariota; however, Arizona State controls its own destiny with the ability to win out and then defeat the Ducks in the Pac-12 championship. 

After the Sun Devils added an impressive win over Notre Dame to their resume, there is no reason to count them out now.

This leaves two teams that have already played each other in TCU and Baylor. Tony Barnhart of SEC Network argues on behalf of the Bears:

While Baylor did earn a wild 61-58 win against TCU, it was a home game and still could only manage a three-point, come-from-behind victory. Meanwhile, the Horned Frogs also won at West Virginia, a place where the Bears suffered their only loss.

Head-to-head results become a tricky situation, especially when TCU has a much better resume with tougher wins and a more respectable loss. Based on how the committee has made its decisions this year, it seems like the Horned Frogs will get the bid if these teams are tied.

Another team that put itself back in the conversation this week was Ohio State, which defeated Michigan State with a 49-37 road win. The Buckeyes looked bad earlier in the year during a home loss to Virginia Tech, but they have turned things around and now look as good as anyone in the country.

When asked about whether his squad is good enough for a spot in the playoffs, head coach Urban Meyer argued on its behalf, per Mark Schlabach of ESPN.com: "I think it is, because I love my team and I don't know enough. I haven't studied the other teams really. If I have to go fight for this team, what they've done—very impressive. That darn loss the second game, if that hurts us, I'll take the hit for that."

The squad still might not have good enough wins to get a spot without a little help, but the Buckeyes will be right there waiting for someone to slip.

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