That didn’t take long. Just one week into the college football season and there’s some significant changes for the USA TODAY Sports bowl projections.
First, the good news. Miami was dominant against in-state rival Florida with Cam Ward at the helm of an explosive offense. The Hurricanes join the College Football Playoff field as clear ACC favorites after slows starts for Clemson, North Carolina State and Florida State. Also moving into the field this week is Missouri. The Tigers benefit from some concerns about others more than their opening win.
Now the bad news. Clemson falls from a top seed to an at-large berth following its loss to Georgia. NC State’s struggles against Western Carolina send it out of the playoff entirely. Also dropping out is Oklahoma. While the Sooners easily got past Temple, there’s concerns about the offensive line and some injuries that move them back to just outside the field.
In other adjustments, Penn State and Notre Dame improve its seeding after impressive road wins to start the season, while Oregon drops due to its less-than-impressive defeat of Idaho. Upset with any of these changes or where your team is? Have no fear. We’re just one step on a long journey. Expect plenty of movement ahead.
Note: Legacy Pac-12 schools in other conferences will fulfill existing Pac-12 bowl agreements through the 2025 season.