Indiana On Top, UCLA’s Playoff Berth Headline Klatt’s Updated CFP Projections

Three undefeated teams remain and a new group of two- and three-loss teams have entered the College Football Playoff conversation after Week 8.

Indiana made a strong case for the No. 1 seed. 1 with its tough road win over Michigan. But who takes the place no. 2, between one-loss teams like Georgia and Ohio State? Which Group of Six team wins number 12? FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt has the answers, as he updated his 12-team CFP bracket on the latest episode of “The Joel Klatt Show.”

Here are Klatt’s updated College Football Playoff predictions.

Klatt’s thoughts: “So who’s the No. 1 seed in all of this? Well, Miami would have lost. Georgia would have had two losses. So I’m looking at the Big Ten champion Indiana Hoosiers. Their only loss would have been to Ohio State. They would have avenged that loss in the conference championship game. And in this scenario — if Ohio were to lose (Ohio Iname). No. 1 team in the country in the Big Ten championship game Ten, which means Indiana will be, for the second year in a row, the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff.

Klatt’s thoughts: “So who gets the No. 2 seed? Last year, Ohio State was No. 1. They got beat and they just went to No. 2. I don’t think that’s the case this year, because I think (the committee) would respect strength of schedule. Obviously, Ohio State also has a ridiculous strength of schedule. That’s just a projection that they would think the SEC. Know this for me, I think the entire narrative of sports favors the SEC.

“So in that environment, I would think Georgia would go No. 2 overall. And I’m not disputing that. I’m just saying that’s the way I see it. That’s what we see. You know, the narrative would fit. They would have avenged their late-season loss to SEC champion Ole Miss (Ole Miss EC won the Ole Miss SEC and Ole Miss EC game). Boom, Georgia would have been No. 2.”

Klatt’s thoughts: “So now you get to the No. 3 seed, and I think my No. 2 and No. 3 seeds would be basically interchangeable. I think it gets a little more complicated here at three. I think you have to consider Notre Dame, although their schedule doesn’t look good. You have to consider Miami, although they just lost to Notre Dame, so, Oh, so, Oh, so, we’re landing? 1 in the playoff spot big championship in our scenario 11-2 in this environment okay so ohio state is there at number three.

Klatt’s thoughts: “Who gets the No. 4? This is the last bye. It’s important. This No. 4 is vital. Although we’ve only seen one team in the history of this 12-team playoff actually win a quarterfinal game after the long layoff. I’ll give it to Notre Dame. They’d be 11-1 on the back, who would win against Miami. team in the country when they play in South Bend, that would be a win over the team No. 1 in the country, which was No. 1 in November, and they are the No. 4 seed.

Klatt’s thoughts: “Now we go to seed no. 5. The first team with a non-bye home game after that will be Miami. That’s why that game becomes so important, obviously. So Miami, I think their bye is on the line at Notre Dame, and I think Notre Dame’s potential playoff life is on the line in that game at Notre Dame. In this scenario, I have Notre Dame winning that game; they get the purchase. Miami Falls just outside; they’re the fifth seed in the country right there, and they’re back in the playoffs. They’re 12-1, the No. 6 ACC champion.”

Klatt’s thoughts: “Now I have to go Big 12 champs, and so Utah, which I had won the Big 12, they’re going to put here. They are 12-1 at this point. They avenged their regular season loss to BYU and defeated BYU in the championship game. And so they’re 12-1 at this point, the Big 12 champions, and they’re the No. 1 seed. 6.”

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Klatt’s thoughts: “So who gets number 7? Well, Texas might be higher than that because, remember, they have a win over Ohio State. They have a win over Ole Miss. They would have a win over LSU. Texas will be my No. 1 seed. 7. They would be rewarded with the home game. You can make a strong argument that they would be higher than that if they won. I could accept that, but again, if you just play the scenario out. You can see where Miami would be at No. 1. They wouldn’t get hurt as much. So then, Notre Dame, who beat them, would have to be up there. Ohio State would have been the no. 1 in the conference championship game. They would only lose to Indiana and then Texas on the way back. You can see where it gets a little weird. But Texas, like 10-2 in my estimation, again they have a high ceiling and maybe a low floor. Are they sustainable? we don’t know. If they play well, run the football, play defense and win, they’re the No. 7 seed in the playoffs.”

Klatt’s thoughts: “Who gets seed no. 8 in the last home game? It would be Ole Miss. Remember, I had Ole Miss in the SEC Championship game. But the only reason they fell all the way to number eight is because they lost to Texas. Miami would be number one. You see where we’re going here, right? They get the home game in the eighth position, but they can’t be ahead of Texas because Texas beat them. You could make the argument like, ‘well, you’re penalizing them playing in the SEC championship game.’ It is one of the reasons why many coaches they want the championship games to go away. But in my case, it’s a 10-3 Ole Miss team that wins a lot.”

(Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)

Klatt’s thoughts: “Who is making the playoffs? Who is number 9 and going to Oxford? UCLA has lost just one game. Not a great resume, but 11-1 UCLA is #9 in the nation and UCLA is going to the College Football Playoff. If that’s the case, remember, they avoided Ohio State, they avoided Indiana this year and they had Oregon. So everybody thought, ‘Yeah, well, they got the Oregon win in Eugene, but it’s looking worse every week with the way Oregon’s been playing,’ it’s losing value every week. So at 11-1, I think they fall below all of those teams, even a three-loss Ole Miss team, because Ole Miss would have been in the SEC Championship game. See where I’m going with this, but UCLA is in.”

Klatt’s thoughts: “Now we’re really going knife-gray. Here, two weeks ago, BYU’s game against Notre Dame will pay off, because now BYU — which has the loss to UCF in my scenario — has a win over Utah that is already in, has a win over Notre Dame, but is not a conference champion. I think the Big 12 gets a second team here. This is where I think BYU falls down. They are 11-2 as the runner-up in that conference. That game against Notre Dame will be massive and they will be heading down to Austin to take on the Texas Longhorns. So BYU is in.”

(Photo by Tyler Kaufman/Getty Images)

Klatt’s thoughts: “That’s it. Seed no. 11. Where are we with seed no. 11? It’s crazy. You start playing all these outdoors, and you have teams like SMU sitting there with maybe three losses. You have Wake Forest with maybe two losses, you never know. Maybe, maybe Wisconsin is sitting there with two losses. I mean, it can get crazy. Iowa can stay there with two losses. But you also have a bunch of 9-3 teams in the SEC… I actually see the path, and that’s the path. The way is, you have four candidates out of the SEC, all 9-3, and those candidates are LSU, Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee. And I think one of them takes the last place.

“So here’s how it’s going to play out. Alabama’s going to have a win over Kentucky, but losses to LSU and Tennessee. Remember I beat LSU by beating Alabama and because of that big win they’re very high. They beat Texas. Look, I played this whole thing. LSU will have beaten Alabama that November and Tennessee. The losses in November, so I’ve got an arrow pointed at me. straight up, an arrow pointing down. and I get that, believe me, I struggle with that.

“LSU gets 11-seed. LSU 9-3. Lane Kiffin goes to playoff.”

Klatt’s thoughts: “That’s a great fan base, Oregon State. They would be locked in and ready to go for it in a Pac-12 championship game Friday night. Oregon State beats Boise State twice, Beeves in playoffs. Let’s go! I love Atkinson. I want Jesse Legree there. I think it would be amazing. I think New Mexico will be eliminated and I think Oregon State takes that passing game to Salt Beach and they face Miami in the first round.”