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College football never ceases to amaze us.  Every year during the offseason, the media floods the public with predictions about the upcoming seasons, and just about always, when the teams step out on to the field, they prove these predictions wrong.  With the first BCS Rankings just around the corner, now is a nice time to make a new set of predictions about the college football playoffs.  The sport is always unpredictable, but we’ll cover all teams that seem to have a realistic shot at the title at the moment.

We’ll start with almighty Ohio State Buckeyes, last year’s champs.  They’ve started this year’s campaign much like they ended last year’s: with a lot of victories.  Urban Meyer’s squad sits at 8-0.  However, the Buckeyes have shown vulnerability and struggled a bit this season, specifically against little brother Northern Illinois and conference laughing stock Indiana.  Despite their struggles, the Buckeyes remain undefeated, and if they beat Michigan State on November 21st and run the table to win the Big 10, they will be in the college football playoff come January. Iowa is actually another team in the Big 10 with a perfect record at this point, but they don’t have one currently ranked team on their entire schedule, likely making it difficult for the committee to justify placing them in the playoff.

Next, a trio of Big 12 teams – TCU, Baylor, and Oklahoma State – are all undefeated at this point in the season as well.  Coming down the stretch this season though, all three of these teams will square off against each other.  Baylor has looked fantastic during the early part of the season, but a season-ending injury to quarterback and Heisman candidate Seth Russell will make life very tough on Art Briles’ team, which relies so heavily on its juggernaut offense to carry the bulk of the load.  Trevone Boykin and the Horned Frogs of TCU were probably the favorites to represent the Big 12 in the College Football Playoff coming into the year.  Through the early part of their schedule, TCU has passed but really is yet to be challenged.  Lastly, there’s Oklahoma State.  It hasn’t been pretty, but after surviving three one possession scares against conference foes Texas, Kansas State, and West Virginia, Mike Gundy’s Cowboys are unbeaten headed into the home stretch.  If any one of these three teams wins out, they’ll be in the Final Four this winter.

In the SEC, Florida, LSU, and Alabama all likely control their own destiny.  Alabama does have a loss against Ole Miss already, but with an opportunity to play LSU and a likely showdown with Florida in the conference championship, Nick Saban and Co. would be very much alive should they win both games.  Florida finds themselves in a similar position, with one forgivable loss to a really good LSU team on the road. Should the Gators clean up the rest of their schedule and win the SEC Title, they’d probably have a solid chance to go to the playoff in Coach Jim McElwain’s first season in Gainesville.  Undefeated LSU just needs to keep winning; it’s that simple.  The last month of SEC is going to determine the fate of these three teams.

The Clemson Tigers out of the ACC are probably the safest bet to make the playoff at this point.  They have looked far superior to any other team in the ACC to this point.  With a win over a really good Notre Dame club and just one tough test against Florida State in their way, DeShaun Watson and his Tigers are well on their way.

The last remaining, major conference is the PAC-12, and the only team with any shot at making the college football playoff at this point is Stanford.  An early loss against mediocre Northwestern and a survival act on the road against Washington State will not help their chances, but if this team wins out and beats Utah to win the PAC-12 and gets some help from others, Kevin Hogan might get a chance to finish his career in Palo Alto with a championship.

Finally, there are a couple of wildcards that could creep into the picture with a little bit of luck.  First, there’s Memphis.  Justin Fuente’s Tigers have come out of nowhere.  Led by future professional Paxton Lynch, Memphis is unbeaten and boasts a win over highly respected Ole Miss.  With games against ranked Houston and Temple left on the schedule, the Tigers would have a real chance if they win out and if Ole Miss wins the SEC.  Lastly, Iowa still has a fighter’s chance.  C.J Beathard directs an offense that seldom turns the ball over, and the team plays rock solid defense.  The Hawkeyes aren’t fun to watch. I’m not sure if they’ve been on national television this season or ever for that matter,  but they’re a Big 10 team, and they are yet to lose despite their pretty easy schedule so far.  If Iowa survives their schedule and upsets a contender in the Big 10 Championship, they’d be tough to ignore.

There you have it – all the teams that still have at least a chance of making the college football playoff.   Ohio State, Baylor, Clemson, LSU, TCU, Michigan State, Alabama, Oklahoma State and Florida all control their own destiny.   Memphis and Iowa need some help.

It should be a great finish to the season.  Stay tuned as the craziness unfolds.