With Georgia and Alabama meeting Saturday, our writers’ picks for the College Football Playoff were bound to get shuffled a bit, but following Alabama’s 41-24 victory, the lists aren’t that different from last week.
Yes, the Bulldogs lost by 17 points, but they also held the lead at half against Nick Saban’s squad and still land in over half of our writers’ picks again this week.
With the big win in the season’s biggest game to this point, Alabama once again lands on everyone’s list this week, and that will likely be the case all season unless the Crimson Tide are upset in any upcoming games.
Clemson is also a unanimous pick of the writers after a staggering 73-7 victory over Georgia Tech on Saturday. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence needed only a half to set his career high for passing yards in a game (404). He also threw for five touchdowns in the first half to help solidify the Tigers’ spot in college football’s top four.
Georgia losing did open up a spot in some of our writers’ picks, and we now have the widest range of teams we’ve had all season.
BYU got multiple votes for the first time this season, while Cincinnati, Coastal Carolina, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M made the picks for the first time in 2020. Notre Dame also received one vote this week.
An idle Ohio State made nearly everyone’s picks this week, and the Buckeyes will finally get to prove their spot in the rankings next weekend when they host Nebraska.
Andrea Adelson: 1. Clemson, 2. Alabama, 3. Ohio State, 4. Cincinnati
Kyle Bonagura: 1. Clemson, 2. Alabama, 3. Ohio State, 4. Oklahoma State
Bill Connelly: 1. Alabama, 2. Clemson, 3. Ohio State, 4. BYU
Heather Dinich: 1. Clemson, 2. Alabama, 3. Ohio State, 4. Georgia
David M. Hale: 1. Alabama, 2. Clemson, 3. Ohio State, 4. Texas A&M
Sam Khan Jr.: 1. Clemson, 2. Alabama, 3. Ohio State, 4. Georgia
Chris Low: 1. Alabama, 2. Clemson, 3. Ohio State, 4. Georgia
Harry Lyles Jr.: 1. Clemson, 2. Alabama, 3. Ohio State, 4. Georgia
Ivan Maisel: 1. Clemson, 2. Alabama, 3. Georgia, 4. BYU
Ryan McGee: 1. Alabama, 2. Clemson, 3. BYU, 4. Coastal Carolina
Adam Rittenberg: 1. Clemson, 2. Alabama, 3. Ohio State, 4. Georgia
Alex Scarborough: 1. Clemson, 2. Alabama, 3. Ohio State, 4. Notre Dame
Mark Schlabach: 1. Clemson, 2. Alabama, 3. Ohio State, 4. Georgia
Tom VanHaaren: 1. Clemson, 2. Alabama, 3. Ohio State, 4. Georgia
Dave Wilson: 1. Clemson, 2. Alabama, 3. Ohio State, 4. Georgia