College Football Playoff predictions, projections after Week 8

The College Football Playoff contenders are starting to shape up after eight weeks of action in the 2024 season.
Texas fell from its No. 1 spot in the US LBM Coaches Poll after falling 30-15 to now-No. 2 Georgia on Saturday. Oregon took over the No. 1 spot in the poll with the Longhorns’ loss, with Miami and Iowa State keeping their spots as the highest-ranked ACC and Big 12 programs, respectively.
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The SEC championship race remains wide open, as Texas A&M and LSU stand atop the conference standings with undefeated conference records, with Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, Vanderbilt and Missouri each tied with one SEC loss.
The Vols also picked up their biggest win of the year on Saturday, defeating rival Alabama 24-17 at home in coach Josh Heupel’s second win over the Crimson Tide in four seasons.
Here’s the latest CFP predictions after Week 8 of the college football season:
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Seedings are based on Week 8’s US LBM Coaches Poll and rules of the College Football Playoff format:
*Receives first-round bye and automatic qualification
Texas’ loss to Georgia moved Oregon into the No. 1 spot in the Week 9 rankings, with Georgia also overtaking Texas in the polls, making the Bulldogs the highest-ranked SEC team after Week 8. Miami’s win over Louisville and Iowa State’s win over UCF kept them as the highest-ranked ACC and Big 12 teams, respectively (despite not holding the No. 3 and No. 4 spots in the Coaches Poll).
Teams seeded 5-11 are the current at-large teams based on the Coaches Poll, with Boise State occupying the 12th seed as the fifth highest-ranked conference champion.
The new 12-team College Football Playoff features a much-different bracket format, with the four highest-ranked conference champions receiving a first-round bye as the top four seeds. (The next-highest-ranked conference champion will likewise receive an automatic bid, though without a first-round bye).
Apart from the top four teams in the final 12-team rankings, the other eight teams in the CFP will face off in the first round, with the higher-seeded team having homefield advantage. The winners of the first-round games will advance to play the four highest-ranked teams.
Here’s a look at the bracket if the regular season ended today:
The winner of Penn State-Boise State would face No. 4 Iowa State in the second round, while the Ohio State-Notre Dame winner would face No. 3 Miami. The winner of Texas-Clemson would take on No. 2 Georgia and the winner of LSU-Tennessee would face No. 1 Oregon.
Here is the full list of dates for the 2025 College Football Playoff: