Week 5 of the college football season featured one of the biggest matchups of the regular season with the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs visiting the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide. In a matchup that featured teams that have won a combined five national titles in the past 10 years, this one had plenty of stakes for the 2024 College Football Playoff.
The first half seemed as if it would be an Alabama rout. Then Georgia overcame a 30-7 deficit to take a late fourth-quarter lead. The two heavyweights traded big plays and long touchdowns before freshman cornerback Zabien Brown picked off Carson Beck in the end zone to seal the victory for Alabama. It was Beck’s third pick of the game. On the other side, Alabama QB Jalen Milroe accounted for 491 total yards and four touchdowns. The loss ended Georgia’s 42-game regular-season winning streak.
It wasn’t the only game featuring ranked teams. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish gave the Louisville Cardinals their first loss of the season, and the Kansas State Wildcats routed the Oklahoma State Cowboys in a game involving Big 12 contenders. In the Big Ten, the Penn State Nittany Lions held off the Illinois Fighting Illini.
Two top-10 teams in the Associated Press Top 25 poll faced tough games against unranked conference opponents. The Miami Hurricanes rallied in the fourth quarter and survived a Hail Mary to beat the Virginia Tech Hokies on Friday night. Then the Ole Miss Rebels lost to the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday. The Rebels were a favorite for at least an at-large playoff bid, but now have a small margin for error to get into the field.
Here are our experts’ top 12 College Football Playoff picks (Power 4 conference champions receive the top four seeds):
Andrea Adelson: 1. Tennessee 2. Ohio State 3. Miami 4. BYU 5. Texas 6. Alabama 7. Oregon 8. Penn State 9. Missouri 10. Georgia 11. Clemson 12. UNLV
Kyle Bonagura: 1. Texas 2. Ohio State 3. Miami 4. BYU 5. Alabama 6. Tennessee 7. Oregon 8. Georgia 9. Penn State 10. Michigan 11. Clemson 12. James Madison
Bill Connelly: 1. Alabama. 2. Ohio State. 3. Miami. 4. Iowa State. 5. Texas. 6. Tennessee. 7. Penn State. 8. Oregon 9. Georgia. 10. Missouri 11. Indiana. 12. UNLV
David Hale: 1. Texas 2. Ohio State 3. Miami 4. Iowa State 5. Alabama 6. Tennessee 7. Clemson 8. Penn State 9. Georgia 10. Oregon 11. Notre Dame 12. UNLV
Eli Lederman: 1. Alabama 2. Ohio State 3. Miami 4. Utah 5. Texas 6. Georgia 7. Oregon 8. Tennessee 9. Penn State 10. Missouri 11. Notre Dame 12. Boise State
Chris Low: 1. Alabama 2. Ohio State 3. Miami 4. Kansas State 5. Texas 6. Tennessee 7. Georgia 8. Oregon 9. Penn State 10. Clemson 11. Missouri 12. UNLV
Harry Lyles Jr.: 1. Alabama 2. Ohio State 3. Miami 4. Iowa State 5. Texas 6. Tennessee 7. Georgia 8. Penn State 9. Oregon 10. Indiana 11. Missouri 12. UNLV
Max Olson: 1. Alabama 2. Ohio State 3. Miami 4. Iowa State 5. Texas 6. Georgia 7. Tennessee 8. Penn State 9. Oregon 10. Clemson 11. Ole Miss 12. UNLV
Adam Rittenberg: 1. Alabama 2. Ohio State 3. Miami 4. Kansas State 5. Texas 6. Tennessee 7. Georgia 8. Oregon 9. Penn State 10. Clemson 11. Missouri 12. UNLV
Mark Schlabach: 1. Alabama 2. Ohio State 3. Kansas State 4. Miami 5. Texas 6. Tennessee 7. Georgia 8. Oregon 9. Penn State 10. Clemson 11. Missouri 12. UNLV
Jake Trotter: 1. Alabama 2. Ohio State 3. Miami 4. BYU 5. Georgia 6. Tennessee 7. Texas 8. Penn State 9. Oregon 10. Michigan 11. Clemson 12. UNLV
Paolo Uggetti: 1. Alabama 2. Ohio State 3. Miami 4. BYU 5. Texas 6. Georgia 7. Oregon 8. Tennessee 9. Penn State 10. Clemson 11. Utah 12. Boise State
Dave Wilson: 1. Texas 2. Ohio State 3. Miami 4. Iowa State 5. Alabama 6. Tennessee 7. Clemson 8. Penn State 9. Georgia 10. Oregon 11. Notre Dame 12. UNLV