2024 College Football Playoff Top 12 Rankings Prediction – Week Seven

Not much has changed from last week’s College Football Playoff predictions, but there are a few new teams to discuss. First, let’s talk about those who dropped out.

Once-projected Big 12 champion Utah is finally out of the 12-team playoff prediction. It now has two losses, both at former PAC 12 teams. The Utes simply don’t play well without Cam Rising and he gets injured every time he takes the field. Instead, another Utah team will take its place, but more on that later.

After Alabama lost to Vanderbilt, I kept the trend because they tend to bounce back after losses. But that seems to be a trait that only Nick Saban-led teams had. Sure, Alabama beat South Carolina, but it really wasn’t a great performance from either team. If the Gamecocks had a quarterback who could maintain control in the final seconds of the game and not throw an interception, they would probably win and hand Alabama back-to-back losses for the first time in who knows how long.

In their place is BYU and a team no one was talking about before the season started: Navy.

No, you didn’t read that wrong. Navy, the service academy for the naval branch of the U.S. military, is 6-0 and expected to reach its first college football playoffs. Of course, their schedule isn’t difficult, but they beat teams ahead.

They will play Notre Dame later in the season, and by then the Irish could be a top 10 team. If Navy can knock out a top-10 Notre Dame team and beat another top-25 team in Army (yes, you read that right too), there could be two non-Power Four teams in the playoffs .

BYU, while more credible, is also 6-0. The Cougars don’t have anyone left to lose to. If they face Iowa State in the Big 12 Championship and either win or lose by one point, they will advance to the playoffs.