2024 12-team College Football Playoff rankings prediction week 2: NIU leaps into the CFP picture
By Ethan Lee
Welcome to the College Football Playoff discussion, Northern Illinois! The NIU Huskies (not our beloved Washington Huskies, but still a worthwhile bunch of Huskies to discuss) managed to take down the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in South Bend, Indiana!
Now, Notre Dame may not be unbeatable (they very clearly aren't), but that's still a strong showing for a G5 program on the road. And this is a G5 program that has been working on a long term rebuild project. NIU head coach Thomas Hammock is in his sixth season with his Huskies and their patience is paying off in a big way.
Hammock has had some success here and there, but this is clearly one of the biggest wins in NIU football history, if not the single biggest win for the Huskies.
More importantly, I felt a little bad for not having Notre Dame in my playoff rankings last week. Now I feel a little vindicated. So, thank you to NIU for the shenanigans and for beating the Fighting Irish in a low-scoring but still thrilling contest.
2024 College Football Playoff predictions after week 2
Rank | Team | Why they're here | Previous rank |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Georgia Bulldogs | SEC champ | 1 |
2 | Ohio State Buckeyes | Big Ten champ | 2 |
3 | Miami Hurricanes | ACC champ | 3 |
4 | Oklahoma State Cowboys | Big 12 champ | 4 |
5 | Texas Longhorns | At-large | 5 |
6 | Ole Miss Rebels | At-large | 10 |
7 | Oregon Ducks | At-large | 6 |
8 | Utah Utes | At-large | 7 |
9 | Alabama Crimson Tide | At-large | 8 |
10 | Penn State Nittany Lions | At-large | 11 |
11 | Clemson Tigers | At-large | 4 |
12 | Northern Illinois Huskies | Highest ranked G5 champ | Unranked |
Elsewhere amongst the G5 teams, the Liberty Flames struggled but were able to survive a solid test from the New Mexico State Aggies. The Boise State Broncos looked good against an Oregon Ducks team that hasn't exactly played up to potential, but the Broncos came up short in a game that really could have bolstered their resume in some impressive ways.
Looking around the country, I feel okay moving the Ole Miss Rebels up a bit. Lane Kiffin's team is legit this season and there aren't many teams that I previously had ahead of them that are impressing me after two weeks.
The Utah Utes started off strong against the Baylor Bears, but if Cam Rising isn't fully healthy, I have questions about how far this team will go this season. Staying in the Big 12 for a moment, Oklahoma State looks very vulnerable. That conference is going to be chaotic and fun to keep up with.
Back down to the SEC, Kalen DeBoer's Alabama Crimson Tide looked pretty vulnerable for a while in their game against the USF Bulls. Alex Golesh really made this game interesting to keep up with, but ultimately things fell apart for USF.
On over to the Big Ten, Penn State was a whole mess against Bowling Green. The fact that the Nittany Lions struggled as much as they did proves that they are also vulnerable this season.
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