College Football Playoff 2015: Predicting NCAA Final Four After Week 2 Results

The college football season is in full swing as teams have finished up their second week of games. The 2015-16 season will mark the second year of the four-team playoff, and although the playoff rankings don't start coming out for a few weeks (the first rankings drop on November 3, according to collegefootballplayoff.com),it's never too early to start making predictions on which teams will make the playoffs.

The top-ranked and defending champion Ohio State Buckeyes have to be considered the favorites again this season, but a few other teams have looked strong to start the season as well. Here's a look at the AP Top 25 as well as the coaches poll, courtesy of ESPN.

Both polls have the same Top Four with Ohio State, Alabama, TCU and Baylor topping the polls. Here's a look at a prediction for the four teams that will compete for this year's national title.

1. Ohio State

2. Alabama

3. TCU

4. USC

The top two teams here are fairly easy picks. The Buckeyes are the defending champs, and since they don't play another team that is currently ranked until their matchup with Michigan State on November 21, their path to a second consecutive playoff is favorable to say the least. The only foreseeable way Ohio State could miss the playoffs at this point is if it gets tripped up somewhere in the regular season and in the Big Ten Championship Game.

Alabama has a much tougher road to the playoffs, but it has looked the part early on. Running back Derrick Henry has looked like a Heisman contender through the first two weeks, and if the Crimson Tide continue to feed him he could carry them through the season. As Joel Klatt of Fox Sports points out, good things happen when Henry gets the ball.

Alabama's schedule is admittedly tough, with road matchups against Georgia, Texas A&M, Mississippi and Auburn on the slate. But if the Crimson Tide emerge as champions of the SEC, look for them to return to the playoffs.

The third and fourth spots are where it starts to get tricky. You could put any number of teams in there right now including Michigan State, TCU, Baylor, Oregon and USC. But for now TCU and USC are getting the edge.

Some might say TCU shouldn't get a spot because it doesn't play a conference title game. That's a reasonable argument considering both TCU and Baylor got left out last year. But TCU has a Heisman candidate of its own in quarterback Trevone Boykin.

If Boykin and the Horned Frogs run the table, which would include taking care of business at home against Baylor in the regular-season finale, TCU should get in.

The team you may not have expected to see here is USC. But it has the talent to make some noise in the Pac-12, especially after Oregon's loss to Michigan State. The Trojans are led by senior quarterback Cody Kessler. Kessler tossed 39 touchdowns against only five interceptions a year ago, and if he continues to make strides he can turn USC into a dangerous squad.

Of course, it will not be easy to make the playoffs out of the Pac-12. The Trojans have tough road games at Arizona State, Notre Dame and Oregon, but if USC knocks off Oregon and finishes the season with one loss as Pac-12 champs, it could find its way into college football's postseason tournament.