Another week of college football has come and gone, and with it, took a few of last week's predicted college football playoff contenders with them.
Only two games this week were top-25 matchups, but neither looked like it. No. 3 Texas exposed No. 10 Michigan after the Wolverines just won the 2024 college football playoffs, and No. 14 took No. 24 NC State behind the woodshed in their SEC vs ACC contest.
Instead, the best games of the week were three previously predicted CFP teams facing off against squad not even ranked in the AP Poll: Oklahoma State vs. Arkansas, Boise State vs. Oregon, and Northern Illinois vs Notre Dame.
2024 Week two 12-team CFP prediction
Rank | Team | Why are they here | Previous Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ohio State | Big 10 Champion | 1 |
2 | Georgia | SEC Champion | 2 |
3 | Utah | Big 12 Champion | 3 |
4 | Miami | ACC Champion | 4 |
5 | Texas | At-large | 5 |
6 | Ole Miss | At-large | 7 |
7 | Penn St | At-large | 6 |
8 | USC | At-large | Not Ranked |
9 | Missouri | At-large | 11 |
10 | Oklahoma State | At-large | 9 |
11 | Alabama | At-large | Not Ranked |
12 | UNLV | MW Champion | 12 |
As you can see, two teams made their debuts this week, with Alabama and USC getting the nod. The Tide have a new coach and a tough schedule, but with how our predicted CFP teams are dropping like flies, Alabama has the talent to have a great season and make the playoffs.
USC replaced Oregon after the Ducks struggled to beat Boise State. QB Moss Miller looks like the real deal, averaging 300-plus yards passing with a 72 percent completion rate. He's led USC to two wins, including one against SEC opponent LSU.
Notre Dame exposed itself as the most overrated college football team earlier than usual, losing to known MAC powerhouse *checks notes* Northern Illinois, all for the low price of $1.4 million. The Irish had the benefit of the doubt when it played poorly against Texas A&M, but as this week's edition of SEC Short portrayed, you can call the time of death on Notre Dame's playoff hopes.
The College football ER gets packed out again.
— SEC Shorts (@SECShorts) September 9, 2024
presented by: @renasant pic.twitter.com/vz4rgiTG2i
Unlike the other two, Oklahoma State didn't lose its spot in the predicted playoffs. The Cowboys have a pretty easy schedule and won its game against Arkansas, so right now, it keeps its seed. But the thing is, it shouldn't have won. The Hogs put up over 640 yards on the Pokes, but self-inflicted injuries keep Ok State alive. It took them two overtime periods to knock off the team predicted to finish 14th in the SEC.