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Pat Forde: College Football Playoff Projected Bracket After Week 8

The country’s final three unbeaten teams land in the top 12 as the field dwindles heading into the second half of the season.
Miami head coach Mario Cristobal has the Hurricanes as one of the last unbeaten teams in the country and firmly in the top spot in the polls and CFP rankings.
Miami head coach Mario Cristobal has the Hurricanes as one of the last unbeaten teams in the country and firmly in the top spot in the polls and CFP rankings. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Each week, The Dash selects and seeds the 12 teams who belong in the College Football Playoff as if today were Selection Sunday. 

College Football Playoff Projections After Week 8

The Field 

  1. Miami (7–0)
  2. Ohio State (6–1) 
  3. UCLA (7–0)
  4. Georgia (6–1)
  5. Indiana (7–1)
  6. Kentucky (7–1) 
  7. Utah (7–0)
  8. BYU (6–1)
  9. Notre Dame (6–1)
  10. Wake Forest (6–1)
  11. Texas (5–2) 
  12. Boise State (6–1) 

Also considered: Northwestern, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Missouri, LSU, Arizona, SMU, Wisconsin, New Mexico, UTSA. 

First Round 

  • No. 12 Boise State at No. 5 Indiana
  • No. 11 Texas at No. 6 Kentucky
  • No. 10 Wake Forest at No. 7 Utah 
  • No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 8 BYU 

Quarterfinals 

  • Cotton Bowl: No. 4 Georgia vs. winner of No. 12 Boise State at No. 5 Indiana
  • Rose Bowl: No. 3 UCLA vs. winner of No. 11 Texas at No. 6 Kentucky
  • Fiesta Bowl: No. 2 Ohio State vs. winner of No. 10 Wake Forest at No. 7 Utah
  • Peach Bowl: No. 1 Miami vs. winner of No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 8 BYU 

PODCAST: Listen to Sports Illustrated’s college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, hosted by Pat Forde, on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s college YouTube channel or on SI TV.

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Pat Forde
PAT FORDE

Pat Forde is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who covers college football and college basketball as well as the Olympics and horse racing. He cohosts the Others Receiving Votes podcast for SI and is a regular contributor to the Tony Kornheiser Show podcast. He previously worked for Yahoo Sports, ESPN and The (Louisville) Courier-Journal. Forde has won 28 Associated Press Sports Editors writing contest awards, has been published three times in the Best American Sports Writing book series, and was nominated for the 1990 Pulitzer Prize. A past president of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and member of the Football Writers Association of America, he lives in Louisville with his wife. They have three children, all of whom were collegiate swimmers.

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