College football rankings: Predicting the 12-team playoff in Week 7

Predicting what college football's 12-team playoff would look like right now

The college football postseason will change forever in a year's time when the playoff system formally expands from four to 12 teams. What exactly will that look like? 

Currently, it means the playoff will feature the six highest-rated conference champions followed by the next six highest-ranked teams, with the top four getting a first-round bye to start out.

But that's expected to change a little once the Pac-12 basically ceases to exist after realignment becomes official next year. How exactly remains an open question, so for our current expanded playoff predictions, we're using the extant model.

What would the expanded playoff look like right now? Let's predict the conference champions, full rankings, and what the games would be.

College Football Playoff rankings projection

1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Florida State 
4. Texas 
5. Ohio State
6. Oklahoma
7. Oregon
8. Penn State
9. USC
10. Washington
11. Alabama
12. Tulane

Projected conference champions

• SEC: Georgia
• Big Ten: Michigan
• ACC: Florida State
• Big 12: Texas
• Pac-12: Oregon
• AAC: Tulane

Predicting college football's 12-team playoff

No. 12 Tulane at No. 5 Ohio State: Winner plays No. 4 Texas

No. 11 Alabama at No. 6 Oklahoma: Winner plays No. 3 Florida State

No. 10 Washington at No. 7 Oregon: Winner plays No. 2 Michigan

No. 9 USC at No. 8 Penn State: Winner plays No. 1 Georgia

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