Bowl Predictions 2019: Updated Playoff CFP Projections Heading into Week 10

With Week 9 of the college football season complete, there's only one more week of games before the College Football Playoff selection committee releases its first rankings of the season.

However, the AP Top 25 poll and recent results give us a good idea of how those rankings should look. There are five undefeated teams at the top of the poll—LSU, Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson and Penn State—and it's likely that four of them will be slotted into the College Football Playoff positions.

Oklahoma was among that group until it suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday, falling to Kansas State on the road.

Entering Week 10, here's a look at the current projections for the College Football Playoff and the rest of the New Year's Six bowls.

Bowl Projections

College Football Playoff

Peach Bowl (Dec. 28): Alabama vs. LSU

Fiesta Bowl (Dec. 28): Ohio State vs. Clemson

New Year's Six

Cotton Bowl (Dec. 28): Baylor vs. SMU

Orange Bowl (Dec. 30): Georgia vs. Wake Forest

Sugar Bowl (Jan. 1): Florida vs. Oklahoma

Rose Bowl (Jan. 1): Oregon vs. Penn State

College Football Playoff Picture

The SEC may get two teams in the College Football Playoff after all.

It seemed unlikely when Ohio State, Clemson and Oklahoma were all on track to be undefeated conference champions, but that has changed after the Sooners' surprising loss at K-State.

The winner of the Alabama-LSU game on Nov. 9 is likely to go on to win the SEC championship and be the No. 1 seed in the playoff. But the loser of that game could make the CFP if it doesn't lose again, as a one-loss Alabama or LSU team could have a better argument than Oklahoma (potentially only one loss and the Big 12 championship) and Oregon (potentially one loss and the Pac-12 championship).

Of course, there are other factors that could prevent the Crimson Tide and Tigers from both making the playoff. Alabama also has a challenging regular-season finale at Auburn on Nov. 30. LSU has a light schedule after playing Alabama, but upsets could always happen in the SEC.

Another factor in the College Football Playoff picture is whether Ohio State can win the rest of its games and capture the Big Ten championship. The Buckeyes are certainly going to have some competition.

Ohio State's final two regular-season games are against No. 5 Penn State, which is undefeated, and No. 14 Michigan, which just notched its biggest win of the season over Notre Dame on Saturday.

So, it's far from a sure thing that the Buckeyes will even make the CFP, although they are in control of their own destiny at this point.

Clemson is in good position to make the College Football Playoff as it doesn't have a difficult November schedule. The Tigers improved to 8-0 with a 59-7 win over Boston College on Saturday, and their only remaining game against a ranked opponent is a home contest against No. 23 Wake Forest on Nov. 16.

If Ohio State and Clemson don't go undefeated, that will open the door for other one-loss teams to potentially have a chance at reaching the College Football Playoff, a group that includes Florida, Georgia, Oregon and Utah, depending on how those teams fare the rest of the season.