Ohio State, Baylor could be top two in CFP

My projection for the four teams in the College Football Playoff and the four other New Year’s bowls.

The top four teams, as ranked by the 12-person selection committee, will be placed in the Orange and Cotton Bowls and meet on Dec. 31. The winners will meet on Jan. 11 in Glendale, Ariz. for the national title.

College Football Playoff

ORANGE: No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 4 Clemson

COTTON: No. 2 Baylor vs. No. 3 LSU

Southern California tripped up Utah, 42-24 on Saturday night, leaving the Pac-12 without an unbeaten team. That doesn’t eliminate them from the playoff race but it doesn’t help the conference’s cause.

Ohio State finally dropped the hammer on someone (49-7 at Rutgers), making Urban Meyer’s quarterback switch look pretty smart.

We have one more week to wait for LSU at Alabama (Nov. 7), which will likely determine the SEC race.

New Year’s bowls

SUGAR: Alabama (SEC) vs. TCU (Big XII)

ROSE: Iowa (Big Ten) vs. Stanford (Pac-12)

PEACH: Michigan (at large) vs. Notre Dame (at large)

FIESTA: Michigan State (at large) vs. Houston (Group of 5)

Under the old format, the Big Ten couldn’t have put three teams into these games but the conference limit was lifted with the switch to the playoff format last year.

Season-long reminder: The Sugar and Rose bowls, which were playoff games last year, are “contract” bowls this year. The SEC and Big 12 are the only conferences that can play in the Sugar and the Rose is only open to Big Ten and Pac-12 teams. Those four teams still will be placed into those games based on the CFP selection committee rankings.

Also, the highest-rated champion from the “Group of 5” conferences is guaranteed one spot. The American winner (Memphis, Houston, Temple) will probably have a better resume than Toledo (MAC).

The first CFP rankings from the committee will be released on Nov. 3.

This story was originally published October 25, 2015 at 6:06 PM with the headline "Ohio State, Baylor could be top two in CFP."