Expanded College Football Playoff: Where Ohio State sits after Week 1

COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) — Week 1 of the college football season is history, and we now have a sense of which teams could become contenders for this year’s expanded College Football Playoff.

Ohio State is in a great position to earn a spot in the 12-team field, but there is still a long way to go until teams start solidifying their spots. The unpredictability of the sport was on full display as we saw an Atlantic Coast Conference favorite drop out of the playoff picture and two new teams enter the fold.

Here is how the playoff bracket looks heading into Week 2 based on Associated Press rankings and what changes we could see after Saturday. Although the AP poll won’t be used in seeding teams, the official rankings won’t start coming out until November, so we can use it until then to get a sense of where teams lie.

Projected playoff bracket

Ohio State’s No. 2 spot as the presumed Big Ten champion is safe for now. Using the AP rankings, the Buckeyes would face either Notre Dame or Penn State in a quarterfinal, likely at the Rose Bowl.

With the recent shuffling in the rankings, Michigan is on the outside looking in after falling from No. 9 to No. 10. The Wolverines would be the first team out as Missouri jumped over them and would get in as the last at-large team. No. 11 Utah moves up to the three-seed as the presumed Big 12 winner, and No. 12 Miami puts itself in the picture as the presumed ACC champion.

Florida State’s losses to Georgia Tech and Boston College put it from the No. 3 seed last week to out of the playoff entirely. Once again, Boise State finds itself as the fifth-best presumed conference champion but still sits outside the top 25 teams in the AP poll.

The shuffling puts into prospect some unusual matchups with an all-SEC first-round game between Alabama and Missouri and a potential semifinal for the Buckeyes against the Crimson Tide.

Week 2 games that effect Ohio State, playoff picture

No. 3 Texas vs. No. 10 Michigan: One of the biggest regular-season games is Saturday as the Longhorns travel to Ann Arbor. An impressive Texas win seems likely to put it above the Buckeyes, and a Michigan upset can put it back in the conversation from the Big Ten. Either way, a reshuffling of our mock bracket is in store.

Boise State vs. No. 7 Oregon: Another game between two teams projected to make the playoff is the Ducks against the Broncos in Eugene, Oregon. Despite a Week 1 win over Idaho, Oregon dropped four places in the AP poll and needs to impress. A Broncos win would help the Buckeyes pull away from the rest of the Big Ten give them a good spot in Week 3.

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