College Football Rankings 2015: Playoff Predictions Heading into Week 13

Tuesday’s College Football Playoff poll was perfect foreshadowing for what fans will see at the end of the season.

There are teams from the ACC, SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 in the Top Four, and that will not change once the playoffs are announced. The only thing that will be different is the representative from the Big Ten.

With that in mind, here is a look at the updated rankings as well as some predictions for the final four playoff teams.

Seed	Team	Conference
1	Clemson	ACC
2	Alabama	SEC
3	Michigan State	Big Ten
4	Oklahoma	Big 12

Overview

Clemson, Alabama and Michigan State all have conference championship games at the end of the season and will solidify themselves in the eyes of the committee with their respective titles.

The Big 12 does not, which hurt the league last year. However, Oklahoma will have victories over TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma State by season’s end (and even a nonconference win against Tennessee), which will be enough to overcome any questions about whether it is a true conference champion. The head-to-head wins over the other competitors will make it clear the Sooners are the best team in the league.

The Pac-12 will be on the outside looking in because each of its teams has two losses. That is a testament to the overall strength of the conference, but it is an unfortunate reality for the league this year.

Stanford will have the opportunity to make a statement with a win over No. 6 Notre Dame Saturday, but it still wouldn’t have enough to leap an undefeated Clemson or a one-loss Alabama, Michigan State and Oklahoma in this scenario.

As for a potential one-loss Notre Dame (if it beats Stanford), the lack of a conference and conference title game will prove costly. What’s more, the Fighting Irish’s victories over Texas and Georgia Tech are nowhere near as impressive as they hoped at the beginning of the season, and even USC has four losses.

Notre Dame would be riding wins over Stanford, Temple and Navy, which are solid but not enough to stack up to those from Michigan State or Oklahoma. If the Spartans win out, they will have victories over Ohio State, Michigan, Iowa and Oregon, while the Sooners would have the TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma State victories.

ESPN’s Danny Kanell suggested the fact Notre Dame is behind Iowa, Michigan State and Oklahoma in the current rankings is ominous:

JJ Stankevitz of CSN Chicago reiterated that belief:

As for the teams that will be in with these projections, they will all be challenged in the upcoming games.

Michigan State must get past Penn State and then Iowa in the Big Ten Championship Game, and Alabama must beat archrival Auburn and then Florida in the SEC Championship Game. Oklahoma must get past Oklahoma State, and Clemson has to deal with South Carolina and then North Carolina in the ACC Championship Game.

The Spartans will handle the undefeated Hawkeyes because of a stifling defense that is fresh off an incredible performance against Ohio State. Michigan State held the Buckeyes to 14 points and allowed a mere 132 total yards against an offense that has been among the nation’s best all season.

The Crimson Tide are simply too tough on defense (third in yards and points allowed per game) for a Tigers squad that is 2-5 in the SEC and a Gators team that barely snuck past Vanderbilt and Florida Atlantic.

The Sooners have too much firepower with Baker Mayfield and Samaje Perine for a Cowboys team that is 60th in the nation in points allowed per game, and Clemson has superstar quarterback Deshaun Watson, who will be too much for a North Carolina team that needed overtime to beat Virginia Tech Saturday.

Part of the beauty of college football is arguing about conference superiority every season. The ACC, Big Ten, SEC and Big 12 will settle it on the field in the playoffs this year.