After coming away with a nailbiter of a victory on the road against unranked Minnesota, Penn State will hope to get a little bit of a reprieve from the College Football Playoff selection committee on Tuesday evening. The selection committee will release its updated top 25 rankings on Tuesday evening to give college football fans an updated look at the potential playoff bracket entering the final weekend of the regular season. Given the results around the country last weekend, including multiple ranked teams losing in the SEC and brewing Big 12 chaos, there should be a new look to the potential bracket this week.
The biggest question for Penn State will be whether it will still manage to hold off Notre Dame for the No. 4 ranking after a close call against the Gophers on the same day Notre Dame dominated a ranked Army team. Penn State should still remain in position for a first-round home playoff game given the way this committee has been operating, but there could be some new thoughts to consider from the committee after last weekend’s results.
Penn State football College Football Playoffs projection
Penn State will still be expected to hold a top-five ranking, whether it is the No. 4 ranking or No. 5. Either one should keep Penn State in position to host a first-round playoff game, although the seed will be no higher than No. 6. The top four conference champions will get the top four spots in the seeding, and Ohio State (with Oregon projected as the Big Ten champion) would get the no. 5 seed after being bumped out of the top four. The rest of the seeds would fill out accordingly.
Penn State will still stay behind No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Ohio State, and No. 3 Texas (all three teams will likely remain in that order). Notre Dame stands the best chance to move ahead of Penn State, although one-loss Miami is wrth monitoring despite consistently being a few spots lower than the Nittany Lions.
Penn State’s biggest advantage remains the highest-quality loss among the 1-loss teams, at least the ones ranked just behind them. Penn State’s only loss has come against Ohio State (whose only loss came at Oregon). Notre Dame’s loss came against Northern Illinois. Miami lost to Georgia Tech. Georgia has lost twice, as has Tennessee. Texas’s only loss came to Georgia.
How to watch CFP rankings reveal
TV Channel: ESPN
Start time: 8 p.m. ET
Watch CFP rankings reveal live on Fubo (free trial)
How many teams are in CFP 2024?
For the first time, there will be 12 teams participating in the College Football Playoffs. There are five automatic bids for each of the Power Four conference champions and one to the highest-ranked Group of Five champion. The remaining seven slots are given to the seven at-large teams.
How does the College Football Playoff format work?
The top four seeds will be on a bye as the CFP kicks off. The next four highest-seeded teams will host on-campus playoff games as follows:
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No. 5 vs No. 12, winner will play No. 4
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No. 6 vs No. 11, winner will play No. 3
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No. 7 vs No. 10, winner will play No. 2
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No. 8 vs No. 9, winner will play No. 1
