The first College Football Playoff rankings came out last week and already two teams in the initial top four have lost.
No. 4 Miami, the ACC’s highest-ranked team, had been playing with fire having to come back from second-half deficits multiple times this season. It finally caught up to the Hurricanes. Georgia Tech piled up 271 yards rushing to pull off the upset. Then No. 2 Georgia lost to a team other than Alabama for the first time since 2020 with Ole Miss picking up the win to stay alive for a potential at-large playoff spot.
According to ESPN Research, it’s the third time that two of the top four teams in the initial CFP rankings have lost their next game (2019, 2022).
How could a fresh round of upsets shake things up? Here are our experts’ top 12 College Football Playoff picks:
Andrea Adelson: 1. Oregon. 2. Texas. 3. BYU. 4. Miami. 5. Indiana. 6. Ohio State. 7. Penn State. 8. Tennessee. 9. Alabama. 10. Ole Miss. 11. Notre Dame. 12. Boise State.
Kyle Bonagura: 1. Oregon. 2. Texas. 3. BYU. 4. SMU 5. Indiana. 6. Ohio State. 7. Notre Dame. 8. Tennessee. 9. Penn State. 10. Alabama. 11. Ole Miss. 12. Boise State.
Bill Connelly: 1. Oregon. 2. Texas. 3. BYU. 4. SMU 5. Indiana. 6. Ohio State. 7. Penn State. 8. Notre Dame. 9. Tennessee. 10. Miami. 11. Alabama. 12. Boise State.
David Hale: 1. Oregon. 2. Texas. 3. BYU. 4. Miami. 5. Ohio State. 6. Tennessee. 7. Indiana. 8. Ole Miss. 9. Penn State. 10. Notre Dame. 11. Alabama. 12. Boise State.
Eli Lederman: 1. Oregon. 2. Texas. 3. BYU. 4. Miami. 5. Ohio State. 6. Indiana. 7. Penn State. 8. Tennessee. 9. Alabama. 10. Notre Dame. 11. Ole Miss. 12. Boise State.
Chris Low: 1. Oregon. 2. Texas. 3. BYU. 4. Miami. 5. Ohio State. 6. Tennessee. 7. Indiana. 8. Penn State. 9. Ole Miss. 10. Alabama. 11. Georgia. 12. Boise State.
Harry Lyles Jr.: 1. Oregon. 2. Texas. 3. BYU. 4. SMU 5. Ohio State. 6. Indiana. 7. Penn State. 8. Tennessee. 9. Notre Dame. 10. Miami. 11. Alabama. 12. Boise State.
Max Olson: 1. Oregon. 2. Texas. 3. Miami. 4. BYU. 5. Ohio State. 6. Penn State. 7. Alabama. 8. Indiana. 9. Notre Dame. 10. Ole Miss. 11. Tennessee. 12. Boise State.
Adam Rittenberg: 1. Oregon. 2. Texas. 3. BYU. 4. Miami. 5. Ohio State. 6. Indiana. 7. Tennessee. 8. Alabama. 9. Notre Dame. 10. Penn State. 11. Ole Miss. 12. Boise State.
Mark Schlabach: 1. Oregon. 2. Texas. 3. BYU. 4. Miami. 5. Ohio State. 6. Indiana. 7. Penn State. 8. Tennessee. 9. Alabama. 10. Ole Miss. 11. Georgia. 12. Boise State.
Jake Trotter: 1. Oregon. 2. Texas. 3. BYU. 4. Boise State. 5. Ohio State. 6. Indiana. 7. Penn State. 8. Tennessee. 9. Miami. 10. Ole Miss. 11. Alabama. 12. Georgia.
Paolo Uggetti: 1. Oregon. 2. Texas. 3. BYU. 4. Miami. 5. Ohio State. 6. Indiana. 7. Tennessee. 8. Penn State. 9. Alabama. 10. Notre Dame. 11. Ole Miss. 12. Boise State.
Dave Wilson: 1. Oregon. 2. Texas. 3. BYU. 4. Miami. 5. Indiana. 6. Ohio State. 8. Penn State. 8. Tennessee. 9. Alabama. 10. Ole Miss. 11. Notre Dame. 12. Boise State.