No wonder the SEC finally jumped on board for a 24-team College Football Playoff, which may come as soon as the 2027 season. For the first time in the CFP era, we expect at least two -- perhaps several -- three-loss SEC teams in the bracket this season, as chaos continued within the conference in Week 7. Ranked No. 1 and unbeaten two weeks ago, Texas' CFP path is murky following Saturday's loss to Florida, which came before top-ranked Georgia fell victim to an upset at the hands of Auburn and Alabama lost at Tennessee, three of many stunning results across college football that shook up this week's bracket and bowl projections.
Theoretically, this is what we could be looking at in the SEC over the second half of the season leading into the CFP selection committee's final rankings during conference championship weekend. These are projected final records, not where these teams stand entering Week 8: Good luck determining the league tiebreaker on who gets to play Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, the last of its kind if we move to a 24-team playoff next fall. There's going to be a handful of SEC teams crying at the selection committee for not getting in this season, but there aren't enough spots to keep everyone who answers to Greg Sankey happy.
Ah, this season has truly been exhilarating, and we're only halfway through. Projection: Jackson State vs. South Carolina State Here's an easy 250-mile trek to Frisco for Texas State, which crossed the 60-point plateau for the second time this season during Thursday's 66-27 victory over Colorado State.
USF would much rather play in the Gasparilla Bowl, a home game for the Bulls, despite recent attendance issues at Raymond James Stadium. Next season, USF is expected to open their new 35,000-seat on-campus venue. Projection: Western Michigan vs.
Appalachian State The Mountaineers erased a 10-point deficit to spoil Coastal Carolina's "90s Night" on Friday, pushing to 1-1 in the Sun Belt ahead of this week's Thursday night showdown against unbeaten JMU. There's a chance the Dukes (7-0) will be ranked when they travel to Boone, N.C. for one of the Group of Six's most important games left this season. Tampa in December probably wasn't what Texas A&M had in mind when this season began.
A potential Gasparilla Bowl matchup with Virginia would be disappointing for a program spending too much money to settle for this destination. That's the uncomfortable reality facing Mike Elko, whose Aggies have dropped three of their four SEC games as after starting the season in the top 10. FIU finishes out its three-game stretch of mid-week games on Tuesday against Middle Tennessee, a majority opportunity at home against a fellow 3-3 Conference USA opponent.
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