2024 12-team College Football Playoff rankings prediction week 0: I regret trusting Florida State
By Ethan Lee
Well, in terms of amount of happenings and events, there wasn't exactly a ton that happened in week zero of the 2024 college football season, but there was a rather significant loss. Florida State, previously ranked amongst the top teams in the country, looked abysmal in a neutral site matchup against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
So, go ahead and count me as someone who regrets thinking Florida State would be able to (more or less) reload and thrive once again this season. Last week, I wrote that I thought FSU could win the ACC. As a result, they would get a nice spot in the 2024 12-team college football playoffs.
Georgia Tech just made things a bit more challenging for the Seminoles to actually accomplish.
Florida State's playoff chances technically aren't totally dead, but they're not exactly looking great following the loss in Ireland. And now, moving forward, Mike Norvell and the Noles have a lot to prove down the stretch of the season.
Let's go ahead and go over what I think the college football playoff picture will look like following Florida State's underwhelming showing against Georgia Tech.
2024 College Football Playoff predictions after week 0
Rank | Team | Why they're here | Previous rank |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Georgia Bulldogs | SEC champ | 1 |
2 | Oregon Ducks | Big Ten champ | 2 |
3 | Oklahoma State Cowboys | Big 12 champ | 3 |
4 | Clemson Tigers | ACC champ | 10 (At-large) |
5 | Ohio State Buckeyes | At-large | 5 |
6 | Texas Longhorns | At-large | 6 |
7 | Utah Utes | At-large | 7 |
8 | Alabama Crimson Tide | At-large | 8 |
9 | Penn State Nittany Lions | At-large | 9 |
10 | Ole Miss Rebels | At-large | 11 |
11 | Miami Hurricanes | At-large | Not ranked |
12 | Liberty Flames | Highest ranked G5 champ | 12 |
Unsurprisingly, Florida State drops out here. They're going to have to accomplish quite a bit to get folks buying in to a possible playoff spot for the Seminoles and they've got nobod to blame but themselves.
The top three teams are still the same. No changes there, which shouldn't shock anyone, to be completely honest. There was a big move at No. 4 though, but it's only because the team I think wins the ACC has changed.
I've got Clemson jumping up to No. 4 from the No. 10 spot (which is an at-large spot in the college football playoffs). It's not that I think Clemson is necessarily better than teams like the Ohio State Buckeyes, Texas Longhorns, Utah Utes, or Alabama Crimson Tide. Rather, this is a product of Clemson being able to win the ACC and jump on up a bit into a rather cozy spot.
And as a result, I've got Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels moving up a spot as well.
Along with that, the Miami Hurricanes sneak into the playoff picture rankings here. There's a very real opportunity for Mario Cristobal and the Hurricanes to have a great season and make it into the college football playoffs as an at-large. Right now, I've got them as the No. 11 seeded team, which is not a bad spot, all things considered.