College Football Playoff Bracket Week 7 Live Projections: Michigan Out, New Team Enters

Throughout Saturday’s slate, Sports Illustrated will give an updated look at the playoff seeding and matchups.

Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King runs the ball for a touchdown against Virginia Tech. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Week 7 has some monster matchups on the slate that could go a long way toward clearing up the College Football Playoff picture. Throughout Saturday’s slate, Sports Illustrated will give an updated look at the playoff seeding and matchups. Here’s everything you need to know about the current CFP race:

Update at 11:30 p.m. ET Saturday:

USC threw another wrench into the playoff bracket with the biggest win of Lincoln Riley’s tenure in Los Angeles by beating Michigan. Not only does that knock out the Wolverines, but it sets up a massive game in South Bend against Notre Dame—which is getting everything they need to happen in order to find their way back into the CFP field. The Irish are right on the bubble with the way they’ve looked the last few weeks and now it seems pretty clear they fell by a combined four points to top 10 teams with a young quarterback. 

Meanwhile, the Michigan loss does create the opening that Georgia Tech needs. The Yellow Jackets lack for quality wins but they’re still undefeated and are led by the excellent Haynes King at quarterback. As long as they keep winning, they can easily move out of bubble territory to a more comfortable position in the field. 

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Update at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday:

If you thought last week was chaotic, Week 7 just completely doubled down on that during the 3:30 p.m. ET window that saw the College Football Playoff picture go from fairly predictable to downright crazy. There’s a case to be made, which the committee will surely do in a few weeks, that Indiana could be the No. 1 team in the country with that impressive win at Autzen Stadium—which is saying plenty in its own right. However, the Hoosiers’ lackluster nonconference slate is probably enough of an issue to keep them behind both Miami and Ohio State thanks to those wins over Notre Dame and Texas looking better by the week.

The ascent by Indiana along with Oklahoma losing in Red River also opens the door for Texas A&M to slide into one of the quarterfinal bye spots in the top four, doing just enough to hold off an Alabama team which has strung together an impressive few weeks. The Tide’s lone blemish against Florida State is tough to get over and might be the difference in Bryant-Denny Stadium hosting a first-round playoff game even if they make it to Atlanta for the SEC title game.

Speaking of the Sooners, they still have a shot to remain in the field thanks to that win over Michigan, but John Mateer’s three interceptions after returning from hand surgery is likely to be enough to keep them just outside the top 11. For now, that means Tennessee slides into the bracket based on a close loss to Georgia this season and looking a tad more consistent overall.

Update at 11 p.m. ET Friday:

After Tulane struggled a bit with East Carolina on Thursday night and USF scored in bunches on Friday night against previously undefeated North Texas, it’s time to move the Bulls slightly ahead of the Green Wave when it comes to the American’s pecking order for the Group of 5 bid. The two won’t face each other during the regular season so there’s certainly an interesting play-in scenario developing for the American conference title game if each can continue to run the table.

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College Football Playoff LIVE Bracket Week 7

1. Miami
2. Ohio State
3. Indiana
4. Texas A&M 
5. Alabama
6. Texas Tech
7. Georgia
8. Ole Miss
9. Oregon
10. Tennessee
11. Georgia Tech
12. South Florida

First Round

• No. 12 USF at No. 5 Alabama
• No. 11 Georgia Tech at No. 6 Texas Tech
• No. 10 Tennessee at No. 7 Georgia
• No. 9 Oregon at No. 8 Ole Miss

Quarterfinals

• Sugar Bowl: No. 4 Texas A&M vs. winner of No. 12 USF at No. 5 Alabama
• Cotton Bowl: No. 3 Indiana vs. winner of No. 11 Georgia Tech at No. 6 Texas Tech
• Rose Bowl: No. 2 Ohio State vs. winner of No. 10 Tennessee  at No. 7 Georgia
• Orange Bowl: No. 1 Miami vs. winner of No. 9 Oregon at No. 8 Ole Miss

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No. 12 USF at No. 5 Alabama

There was a big question hanging over Kalen DeBoer about being able to beat teams week after week in the SEC. Thanks to that win at Missouri, it might be safe to say he answered that following three consecutive wins over Top 25 teams.

No. 11 Georgia Tech at No. 6 Texas Tech

The Red Raiders are going to sit outside the top four right now but they just have to keep their head down and keep winning. They’re the class of the Big 12 and seem primed to take advantage of everybody else catching losses over the coming weeks. There will be an interesting debate to be had around the Yellow Jackets, which remain undefeated but won’t be able to get many quality wins until the end of the regular season or in Charlotte for the ACC title game.

No. 10 Tennessee at No. 7 Georgia

The committee has generally avoided rematches but could get forced into having a second meeting between the Vols and the Bulldogs based on the overall seeding, this time between the hedges. Georgia has a chance to be a big riser over the coming weeks however with games at Auburn and against Ole Miss on tap.

No. 9 Oregon at No. 8 Ole Miss

Lane Kiffin can thank the TV gods for putting the Rebels game on early enough that it was overshadowed by just about every result out there because that was a suspect effort against Washington State. They still remain in the field but get a new matchup in the Ducks, who might have a better win at Northwestern than Penn State on their résumé at this point.

Sugar Bowl: No. 4 Texas A&M

It’s impressive how much Texas A&M is flying under the radar nationally—which is just where Mike Elko no doubt likes to be. There are a trio of difficult road games on deck but the Aggies might be one of the biggest surprises in the SEC this season. 

Cotton Bowl: No. 3 Indiana

Indiana had never, ever, gotten a road win against a top five team … until Saturday at one of the toughest places to play in the entire sport. Curt Cignetti won national coach of the year in 2024 but he might have a case to go back-to-back given how much better the Hoosiers are as they look at a potential 12–0 regular season now.

Rose Bowl: No. 2 Ohio State

We’re at the point on the calendar where Ohio State fans, and maybe the team itself, will need to start inventing grievances in order to find the proper motivation to beat up on the rest of the Big Ten. It won’t end up mattering if they want to keep playing like a repeat on the field is possible though.

Orange Bowl: No. 1 Miami

The Hurricanes are off this week and you kind of wonder if they’re going to be out of sight and out of mind until the ACC title game in terms of the national picture given the opponents they have left in the regular season.

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