What Would the CFP Committee Do After Week 5?

The first set of College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings won't be released until October 31st. But why wait until then? For those who can't, I've taken a stab at trying to project how they would look today. Also, as the actual CFP Top 25 rankings are released, I'll try to compare their rankings with my projections throughout the season. Here's my first stab at projecting how the CFP committee would have ranked the Top 25 teams in the country after the first 5 weeks of the season. Also, look out for these projections each week leading up to the first CFP Top 25 rankings release.

1. Clemson (5-0)

Key Wins: vs. Auburn (14-6), at Louisville (47-21), at VA Tech (31-17)

While I would personally still have Alabama at #1, Clemson's body of work up to this point is much more impressive. Solid wins against 3 ranked teams (see above) would leapfrog them over the Tide, for now. And that defense certainly compares well to Alabama defenses of past and present.

2. Alabama (5-0)

Key Wins: vs. Florida State (neutral site, 24-7)

Alabama may be the most dominant team so far, but besides Florida State (whose stock dropped significantly after the Deondre Francois injury), Alabama hasn't been challenged just yet. Also hurting Alabama is that the SEC West is down (...WAY down) this year, and their schedule projects to not challenge Alabama until the Iron Bowl (at Auburn) to end the regular season on November 25th.

3. Oklahoma (4-0)

Key Wins: at Ohio State (31-16)

Despite Oklahoma's struggle against the winless Baylor Bears, Oklahoma easily has the best non-conference win of the season so far against Ohio State. And they've taken care of business otherwise against UTEP and Tulane.

4. Georgia (5-0)

Key Wins: at Notre Dame (20-19), vs Mississippi State (31-3)

To make this clear: No, I don't see Georgia as a 2nd SEC team to make it to the College Football Playoff come December and January. Most likely, only the SEC champion (which looks like Alabama, at the moment) will make it to the Playoff. But Georgia played a decent non-conference schedule, winning against Appalachian State and Notre Dame to start the season. In addition, Georgia's defense has been shutting teams down the first few weeks of the season (to the point where some are comparing their defense to Alabama's).

5. Penn State (5-0)

Key Wins: vs Pitt (33-14)

While having one of the best players in the country in RB Saquon Barkley, Penn State's schedule hasn't looked that great. The win against Pitt isn't even that great of a win, and they barely got by Iowa. That being said, they will get a chance to establish themselves as the Big Ten favorite when they face Michigan (at home) and Ohio State (on the road) in back to back weeks.

6. TCU (4-0)

Key Wins: at Oklahoma State (44-31)

The win at Oklahoma State is a great win. But besides that, wins against Jacksonville State, Arkansas, and SMU keep TCU outside the top 4, for now.

7. Michigan (4-0)

Key Wins: vs Florida (neutral site, 33-17)

Similar to TCU, Michigan only has one solid win on its schedule so far. But a win against Penn State will certainly vault them up to top 4 consideration.

8. Washington (5-0)

They've played Rutgers, Montana, Fresno State, Colorado, and Oregon State so far. While dominant in each game, they haven't face any real competition yet. A solid win vs. Cal this weekend will help out quite a bit for the Huskies.

9. Washington State (5-0)

Key Wins: vs. USC (30-27)

The win against USC was huge. And what makes them scary isn't just the air raid attack led by Luke Falk; it's that they also have a solid run game, led by Jamal Morrow (averaging 8.9 yards per carry).

10. Wisconsin (4-0)

Wisconsin's in a similar boat as Washington. Dominant wins, but against relatively easy opposition (Utah State, Florida Atlantic, BYU, and Northwestern). But they can easily remain undefeated through October before facing Michigan on November 7th.

11. Ohio State (4-1)

12. Miami (FL) (3-0)

13. USC (4-1)

14. Auburn (4-1)

15. Oklahoma State (4-1)

16. San Diego State (5-0)

17. Notre Dame (4-1)

18. Louisville (4-1)

19. Virginia Tech (4-1)

20. UCF (3-0)

21. Florida (3-1)

22. USF (5-0)

23. Utah (4-0)

24. West Virginia (3-1)

25. NC State (4-1)

Other teams just outside Top 25: Navy, Maryland, Kentucky, Kansas State, Oregon, Stanford