Expanded College Football Playoff: Where Ohio State sits after Week 2

COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) — After a wild Week 2 in college football, many teams have put themselves into the large-scale picture of College Football Playoff contenders.

While Ohio State’s 56-0 win over Western Michigan continues its strong start, other Big Ten and Midwest rivals ended Saturday with doubts. Multiple upsets have caused a titanic shift in our playoff projections, with shuffled seeding and an unexpected new Group of Six team included in the 12-team field.

NBC4 is providing a look at a projected 12-team playoff bracket every week this season until the first rankings are revealed on Nov. 5. Here is how the playoff bracket looks heading into Week 3 based on the Associated Press rankings and what changes we could see after Saturday while the Buckeyes rest for a bye week.

Projected playoff bracket

Despite Ohio State dropping to No. 3 in the new AP poll to make way for No. 2 Texas, the Buckeyes seed is still at No. 2. The top-four seeds automatically will go to the four best conference champions, so Texas being an SEC member behind Georgia keeps the Longhorns as the No. 5 seed.

In the projected bracket, the Buckeyes would play the winner of a first-round meeting between Mississippi and Penn State, likely at the Rose Bowl. The gap between the Buckeyes and the rest of the Big Ten seemingly widened after Michigan lost to Texas while Oregon and Penn State battled to wins against inferior opposition, causing changes from last week’s projected 12-team field .

While the Nittany Lions stay as the No. 10 seed, the Ducks dropped to the No. 11 seed after falling to the No. 9 spot in the AP poll. Two new teams entered the fold with Tennessee now in the picture (replacing Notre Dame) and Mid-American Conference member Northern Illinois in as a 12-seed (replacing Boise State) after its 16-14 upset over Notre Dame.

The Huskies are the first non-Power Four school to be ranked this season and put themselves in position to contend for that fifth conference winner slot. Northern Illinois’ next toughest test will be on Sept. 28 at North Carolina State. In this mock bracket, it would earn the right to play Texas in Austin.

Week 3 games that affect playoff picture

No. 1 Georgia vs. Kentucky: With Ohio State on a bye, its projected No. 2 seed should be safe, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see shuffling around the Buckeyes. No. 1 Georgia plays its first conference game against Kentucky. While the Bulldogs are favorites, another dominant performance could put them further at No. 1 before its game Sept. 28 against Alabama.

Kent State at No. 7 Tennessee: The Volunteers are in the playoff mix after a 51-10 win over N.C. State and are expected to crush Kent State in Knoxville. Tennessee is one of six SEC teams in the top seven, and its standing in the rankings could improve with another rout as it competes with Texas, Alabama, Ole Miss, and Missouri.

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