Rivalry weekend came and went in the 2021 college football season and it was an absolute doozie. Michigan getting by Ohio State after a decade-straight of losing to their rival was epic to watch while Alabama’s comeback at Auburn was borderline insane, and Oklahoma-Oklahoma State for Bedlam was terrific as well.
So what do we take away from the weekend and what will the new College Football Playoff ratings look like on Tuesday night?
Here is our best guess here at Fighting Irish Wire.
First up: 25-21…
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25-21 Projection:
25. Purdue
24. Wisconsin
23. Louisiana
22. Arkansas
21. Houston
Welcome back to Purdue who finishes the regular season 8-4 after routing Indiana. I have UTSA and Texas A&M dropping out after both Texas schools had road losses on Saturday.
Next: 20-16…
20-16 Projection:
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20-16 Projection:
20. Clemson
19. San Diego State
18. NC State
17. Utah
16. Wake Forest
Clemson has been playing a ton better of late and looked as good as they have in routing a solid South Carolina squad. These all creep up a bit due to losses by Wisconsin and Texas A&M.
Next: 15-11…
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15-11 Projection:
15. Pitt
14. Iowa
13. Oklahoma
12. BYU
11. Michigan State
After beating USC on Saturday, BYU finishes the regular season 10-2 which includes a 5-0 mark against Pac 12 programs.
Next: 10-7…
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10-7 Projection:
10. Oregon
9. Ole Miss
8. Baylor
7. Ohio State
Ohio State’s hopes for a return to the CFP hit an end Saturday as they were simply outplayed and pushed around by Michigan.
Next: 5 and 6…
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6-5 Projection:
6. Oklahoma State
5. Notre Dame
Oklahoma State’s win was epic against Oklahoma. I don’t think the Cowboys get ranked ahead of Notre Dame who did nothing to hurt their case Saturday, but will certainly be rooting for Baylor in the Big 12 Championship game next week.
Next: Top 4…
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Top Four Projection:
4. Cincinnati
3. Alabama
2. Michigan
1. Georgia
Michigan is clearly the big winner here while Alabama, despite staying at three, will be the big loser. Their close loss to a five-loss Auburn team is another big knock in their case for being a worthy two-loss CFP team. If they beat Georgia they should be in but the Tide certainly hasn’t shown anything the last month to say they’re worthy of being the first CFP team to make the tournament with two losses.
Related:
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Notre Dame blasts Stanford – 5 instant takeaways
5 Stars: best and worst of Notre Dame-Stanford