Colorado joins, Alabama rises in projected College Football Playoff bracket
Published 20 November 2024
This would have been impossible to imagine two months ago and only slightly less improbable as recently as five weeks ago.
But Colorado is in the USA TODAY Sports projected College Football Playoff bracket as the Big 12 champion after winning four games in a row to climb into a first-place tie in the standings with Brigham Young.
Multiple Big 12 contenders have fallen back. BYU lost on Saturday to Kansas after escaping close calls against Oklahoma State and Utah. Kansas State has dropped two in a row. Iowa State also lost two consecutive games before rebounding to beat Cincinnati.
This unpredictability is contrasted by the Buffaloes’ steady improvement. After dropping 49 points on Utah — the Utes hadn’t allowed more than 27 points in a game heading into Saturday — Colorado is up to 26th nationally in scoring. Defensively, the Buffaloes have held its past four opponents to just 4.5 yards per play.
The Buffaloes can clinch an appearance in the title game by beating Kansas and Oklahoma State or splitting these final two games and getting some help. The most likely matchup would come against the winner of Saturday’s game between BYU and Arizona State.
The other newcomer is Alabama. With games against Oklahoma and Auburn to close out November, the Crimson Tide are the safest bet to reach the SEC championship game. That path became much clearer with Tennessee’s loss to Georgia.
Should there no be major upsets this weekend, the title game will pit the Tide against the winner of Texas and Texas A&M.
In a hypothetical matchup with the Longhorns, the Tide have the edge based on each team’s performance against a common opponent, Georgia. While Alabama topped the Bulldogs early in SEC play, Texas was dominated a home in a 30-15 loss.
Texas still lands in the bracket as an at-large pick, joining two other SEC teams in the Bulldogs and Mississippi. The projected 12-team bracket includes another four Big Ten teams, Notre Dame and winners of the Big 12, ACC (Miami) and Mountain West (Boise State).