College Football Playoff 2015: Predicting Final 4 Teams After Latest Rankings

Welcome to chaos season.

On Saturday, Michigan State shocked the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes on the road. Baylor handed Oklahoma State its first loss of the season. Oklahoma needed a stop on a two-point conversion to hold off TCU and keep its playoff hopes alive. And Florida survived an overtime scare against Florida Atlantic.

Just another day in college football.

The selection committee released its latest rankings Tuesday after the carnage, and time is running out for teams to make statements with postseason spots on the line. With that in mind, here is a look at the College Football Playoff rankings and projections for the four squads who will seize the coveted top four slots at the end of the year.     

Clemson

Clemson is in the driver’s seat at No. 1, and it is difficult to envision anything but an undefeated finish and top seed for the Tigers.  

As long as head coach Dabo Swinney’s team knocks off South Carolina (which just lost to The Citadel on Saturday) and wins the ACC Championship Game against North Carolina, it will be in the postseason.

However, North Carolina is a legitimate threat in that ACC showdown, especially with an offense that features dual-threat quarterback Marquise Williams and running back Elijah Hood. The Tar Heels are 10th in the nation in points scored per game and will challenge Clemson from the opening kick.

Still, North Carolina needed overtime to get past a 5-6 Virginia Tech team Saturday and doesn’t have the defense necessary to slow down the explosive Clemson attack for an entire four quarters. Deshaun Watson is a Heisman Trophy candidate and already beat Notre Dame and Florida State.

The Tar Heels won’t stand in his way with a playoff spot on the line.

Alabama

Despite the one loss to Ole Miss, Alabama is in a win-and-in position with two games remaining. 

The Crimson Tide don’t have a lot of ranked victories, but there are a number of solid opponents on the schedule. ESPN Stats & Info illustrated just how difficult it would be for most teams to match Alabama’s record at this point of the season:

That means Alabama doesn’t have to worry about what happens across the nation as long as it takes care of business. It will do exactly that.

Analysts can use the cliche of “throwing out the records” during rivalry games for the Auburn showdown Saturday, but this year’s Tigers team is 6-5 with one win in the SEC against an opponent not named Kentucky. It isn't beating the Crimson Tide.

Alabama is also not going to lose to a Florida squad that needed overtime just to get past Florida Atlantic and a field goal in the final seconds to beat Vanderbilt. The Crimson Tide are too strong on the defensive side (third in the nation in yards and points allowed per game) for the Gators and have running back Derrick Henry to set the tone on offense.

Dane Brugler of CBS Sports commented on the overall talent on the roster:

Alabama will be in the playoff with so much skill across the board.

Michigan State

Michigan State made a statement to the rest of the country Saturday with its road victory over the defending champion Buckeyes. Now all it has to do is knock off Penn State and beat undefeated Iowa, and it will be in the playoff.

The defense that held Ezekiel Elliott, J.T. Barrett, Michael Thomas, Braxton Miller and the rest of the loaded Buckeyes to 14 points and 132 total yards will do just that.

When Michigan State wins out, it will have a Big Ten title to go along with victories over a resurgent Oregon team, Ohio State, Michigan and Iowa. Loss or not, that resume is not getting left out of the College Football Playoff.

Head coach Mark Dantonio was more interested in what his team can control in his press conference, per MSUSpartans.com:

"

I think that first of all, I'll be at meetings and somebody will walk down and say this is where we're at. That's what I think will happen. Because I'm going to concentrate on what we can do. The best thing that we can do right now is focus on Penn State. Then everything else to me sort of works out. Just do what you do, and good things happen. That's usually been the best way that I've tried to approach things and let other people do their job. 

"

As long as the Spartans heed their coach’s words, they will be in the Top Four come season's end.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma was the big winner with Tuesday’s poll and jumped all the way to No. 3 in the rankings.

That won’t mean anything if the Sooners can’t beat their rivals, Oklahoma State, but they will do just that because they are the most complete team in the offense-happy Big 12. A win over the Cowboys would also mean head coach Bob Stoops’ team has quality victories over Baylor, Oklahoma State and TCU on its resume, which is enough to overcome the ugly loss to Texas from earlier in the season.

That string of impressive wins will propel the Sooners into the playoff, especially after Notre Dame loses to Stanford on Saturday.

Baker Mayfield is a Heisman Trophy candidate leading the offense alongside running back Samaje Perine, who already topped 1,100 rushing yards for the second straight season. The defense is also in the top 25 of the country in points allowed per game, which makes it the only team in the conference in the top 50 of that statistic.

Oklahoma will get a shot at some of the other complete teams across the nation with the playoff berth.