College Football Playoff 2015: Latest Championship Predictions After Week 9

Call it the calm before the storm.

For the second straight week, the college football slate featured just one matchup between Associated Press Top 25 teams, and only three of the 18 ranked teams playing suffered defeat.

With half of the Top 10 on a bye, we head to November featuring games to remember—and at a fitting time with the first rankings from the College Football Playoff committee set to release Tuesday.

Eight of the Top 10 teams are pitted to play against fellow foes within those ranks, meaning the playoff picture will come in clearer shape over the coming weeks. Lost Letterman captured the excitement following a less-than-emphatic Week 9:

As we head into the final full month of the season, here is a look at the projected playoff scenario, accounting for those matchups:

Bowl Game	Team 1	Team 2
Cotton Bowl	No. 1 Clemson	No. 4 Ohio State
Orange Bowl	No. 2 Alabama	No. 3 Stanford

Alabama is the highest ranked one-loss team, but its defeat to No. 19 Ole Miss seems like ages ago. The Crimson Tide are exhibiting championship-caliber football at the most pivotal point of the season. 

Up next: No. 4 LSU. Outside the playoff, it’s arguably been the biggest game in college football in the current era. ESPN College GameDay announced it will set up on site for the annual tilt for the fourth time in five years:

The Crimson Tide escaped Death Valley last year in overtime and essentially eliminated LSU from SEC contention in the process. The Tigers have the chance to exact revenge but will have to do so in Tuscaloosa with an undefeated season and seven-game win streak on the line. 

If they lose, their hopes at the SEC championship will likely be squandered, as Alabama will be firmly in the driver’s seat to win the SEC West. Given the crowded room of current unbeatens, LSU’s chance of reaching the playoff as a one-loss team that didn’t play for their conference title seems unlikely.

Alabama may have stumbled, coming off a narrow win over 4-4 Tennessee after already losing to an Ole Miss team that has hit a decline. But this is the time of year Nick Saban has his troops playing their best football. It will assuredly be close, but Alabama will hold off LSU Heisman Trophy favorite Leonard Fournette and win in a squeaker on Saturday, positioning itself for a playoff berth by running the table.

Clemson is arguably the most complete team in college football and has its final road bump ahead this weekend against No. 17 Florida State. 

Quarterback Deshaun Watson continues to chase Fournette in the Heisman race after scoring six touchdowns in the Tigers’ 56-41 win over N.C. State on Saturday. Watson anchored an offense that accounted for 623 yards—56 more than in its 58-0 drumming of Miami a week prior. 

But Clemson’s identity is actually rooted in its defense, which ranks third overall (251 yards per game). 

Despite the continuity, head coach Dabo Swinney is keeping his team in perspective, per Aaron Beard of the Associated Press, ahead of Saturday’s game against Florida State, the three-time defending ACC champs: "We're 8-0. That's really all that matters for us, that we've got a chance to clinch our division with a win over the team that's been the best team in this conference the last few years."

The Tigers haven't lost a game to an unranked team in their last 36 tries, meaning they have a great likelihood to reach the playoff should they conquer FSU. As Ira Schoffel of Warchant.com indicated, that’s no picnic:

Stanford survived a scare on a would-be game-winning field goal by Washington State, but that should serve as a wake-up call more than anything. The Cardinal still have the talent to rue the rest of the Pac-12 and a season finale against No. 9 Notre Dame to redeem themselves. 

Ohio State, meanwhile, continues to chug along—doing so without  J.T. Barrett in Saturday’s 49-7 win over Rutgers after the starting quarterback was suspended one game while operating a vehicle under the influence, according to the Associated Press.

But the Buckeyes still have to play No. 6 Michigan State and No. 15 Michigan in consecutive weeks to close the season, then the Big Ten Championship Game, likely against No. 10 Iowa. That’s a daunting slate, even for a defending national champion. The Buckeyes will split between their division rivals then rebound in the conference title game to narrowly secure their second straight playoff berth.