Here's my prediction:
Prediction
| Team
| Record
| Record vs Current AP Top 25
| Strength of Schedule
| AP Rank
| FPI Rank
| S&P+ Rank
| Best Win
| Best Loss
| Worst Loss
|
1
| Clemson
| 8-0
| 1-0
| 9
| 3
| 7
| 1
| Notre Dame
| N/A
| N/A
|
2
| LSU
| 7-0
| 2-0
| 38
| 4
| 8
| 6
| Florida
| N/A
| N/A
|
3
| Ohio State
| 8-0
| 0-0
| 59
| 1
| 4
| 4
| Penn State
| N/A
| N/A
|
4
| Baylor
| 7-0
| 0-0
| 112
| 2
| 1
| 5
| West Virginia
| N/A
| N/A
|
5
| TCU
| 8-0
| 0-0
| 79
| 5
| 2
| 7
| West Virginia
| N/A
| N/A
|
6
| Michigan State
| 8-0
| 1-0
| 27
| 6
| 19
| 23
| Michigan
| N/A
| N/A
|
7
| Florida
| 7-1
| 1-1
| 33
| 11
| 12
| 10
| Ole Miss
| LSU
| LSU
|
8
| Iowa
| 8-0
| 0-0
| 19
| 10
| 29
| 16
| Wisconsin
| N/A
| N/A
|
9
| Notre Dame
| 7-1
| 1-1
| 17
| 8
| 9
| 9
| Temple
| Clemson
| Clemson
|
10
| Alabama
| 7-1
| 1-1
| 31
| 7
| 6
| 2
| Wisconsin
| N/A
| N/A
|
11
| Utah
| 7-1
| 1-0
| 34
| 13
| 20
| 24
| Michigan
| USC
| USC
|
12
| Stanford
| 7-1
| 1-0
| 54
| 9
| 13
| 17
| UCLA
| Northwestern
| Northwestern
|
13
| Memphis
| 8-0
| 1-0
| 55
| 15
| 36
| 34
| Ole Miss
| N/A
| N/A
|
I think, at this point, that the most important factors the committee will be considering will be:
1. Record combined with SoS
2. Best Win(s).
3. Best & Worst Loss.
4. Other rankings.
Note: The Strength of Schedule listed here is purely a combination of Opponents' Win % combined with Opponents' Opponents' Win %.
At this point in the season, neither Ohio State, TCU, nor Baylor have any true, quality wins to write home about - with Baylor and TCU sharing their best win against a 3-4 team.
Clemson and LSU have, by far, the best wins. Florida and Notre Dame have the best losses, while Stanford clearly has the worst loss.
This week's slate of games looks to have a decent effect on next week's rankings, with:
Florida State at Clemson
Arkansas at Ole Miss
TCU at Oklahoma State
Navy at Memphis
LSU at Alabama
All of these games have a chance to either immediately and/or in the near future directly affect the statistical and perceived strength of various top teams. Clemson will either solidify its hold on a top spot or drop a few spots. Arkansas winning, while it potentially could drastically help Alabama in the SEC West race, would drop Ole Miss from the rankings and make Bama's loss look worse. TCU will either leapfrog Baylor and/or Ohio State or drop quite a few spots. Memphis will either keep rising, while giving itself a direct future comparison to Notre Dame, or else fall off the radar. And, finally, the winner of the LSU - Alabama game should firmly establish itself as a top-4 team.
