College Football Playoff Predictions – Week 9 2016

As we head to the second half of the 2016 college football season, it’s time to look ahead to the College Football Playoff.  We project the four teams the committee will select and use our proprietary formula to predict the semi-finals and national championship game.

We know the committee will pick four conference champions.  Talk of two teams from one conference just isn’t going to happen unless two of the Power 5 conferences totally collapse and have a four loss champion.

The Big XII’s resume is severely lacking this year.  Oklahoma looks to be the favorite in that conference but losses to Houston and Ohio State, make the Sooners highly unlikely to make the playoff.

That leaves the other four, Power 5 conferences to be considered for the playoff.

ACC

A lot could change this weekend with Clemson’s visit to Florida State but the Tigers of Clemson have the resume to make the college football playoff this season.  While Clemson hasn’t been quite as impressive as they were expected to be this season, they’re still undefeated.

The Big Ten

After Penn State’s upset of Ohio State, undefeated Michigan becomes the favorite in the conference.  The Buckeyes will have their chance to still make it to playoff but with the Wolverines sitting undefeated they’re the pick from the Big Ten for the playoff.

Pac-12

The Pac-12 has a clear front runner in Washington.  The Huskies have been lighting up the scoreboard in 2016.  They have to hope the rival Washington State continues to win and could boost their quality wins and improve their seed.

SEC

Alabama seems to have eliminated all other contenders.  They’ve been running over the competition this year and are far and above the pack of the SEC right now.  Auburn is surging and could make the Iron Bowl very interesting this year.

College Football Playoff – Final Four

We’ve given you the final four, Clemson (ACC), Michigan (Big Ten), Washington (Pac-12) and Alabama (SEC).  Now it’s time to seed them.

4 – Washington Huskies (Pac-12)

The Huskies are the clear four seed.  The non-conference schedule was weak and they’re in need of good wins.  They have the chance the rest of the year but the resume right now is the weakest of the four.

3 – Michigan (Big Ten)

Michigan’s win over Colorado gets better by the week.  They have a win over Wisconsin that looks solid but isn’t

2 – Clemson (ACC)

Clemson gets the nod over Michigan right now because of the wins.  They have good wins over Louisville and Auburn.  A win over Florida State this weekend keeps building a strong case for them over Michigan.

1 – Alabama Crimson Tide (SEC)

The Tide have crushed top 10 teams and seem to be rolling through the 2016 season outside of Ole Miss.  They still have hurdles to make it perfect through the season but they’ve set themselves above the rest of the field as the top seed for the playoff.

So who wins these College Football Playoff Semi-Finals and goes on to win the national championship?

Alabama vs. Washington – Semi-final #1

Clemson vs. Michigan – Semi-final #2

Alabama vs. Michigan – National Championship

Get our week 9 college football predictions.  Check back weekly through the season for our updated college football playoff predictions.