Week 14 of the college football campaign is upon us and the end of the regular season is nigh. There’s plenty to talk about as the race to the College Football Playoff reaches a fever pitch, so we’re diving into latest edition of the projected bracket as well as how the new rankings compare to betting odds on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Here’s a breakdown of the updated rankings and bracket with insight on how they stack up to our own numbers before Week 14 kicks off.
College Football Playoff rankings, odds
Here’s a look at the latest projected bracket outlining the College Football Playoff picture, along with details on the updated rankings and DraftKings Sportsbook odds for each team below.
This week, the four bye-week teams in the four highest seeds remained identical to the previous projected bracket. Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M and Georgia are still the top dogs in this race, and none have odds available to make the final field on DraftKings Sportsbook since they’re all virtually locked in for postseason berths. The No. 5 spot is also still occupied by Texas Tech as the Red Raiders have just one loss and remain favorites to win the Big 12. While they were listed at -2500 odds last week, that line has since been pulled from the betting leaderboard as well. If things don’t change, they’ll draw the No. 12 seed in the final standings — more on that shortly.
The changes ahead of Week 14 begin with the No. 6 seed in the CFP bracket. This spot was held by Ole Miss but is now filled by Oregon in a swap from last week’s placements. The Rebels are still No. 7 and spent the weekend on a bye, but see their odds to make the final field plummet from -4000 to -600. That’s a rather large shift, but the change doesn’t come as a result of their own doing. Instead, the flip takes place because of the Ducks’ standout 42-27 victory over No. 15 USC that caused Oregon to jump in both the rankings and from -300 odds to -1200 to make the College Football Playoff.
The matchup between No. 8 and No. 9 in the postseason bracket remains unchanged from last week as Oklahoma and Notre Dame are both still in the same spot. The Sooners beat a ranked Missouri team and see a slight shift up to -400 odds from previous listings at -200 and +350 in the two prior weeks. Meanwhile, the Fighting Irish dismantled Syracuse with a final score that’s arguably too graphic for publication (just kidding, it was merely 70-7). However, they’ve fallen from -2500 odds of making the CFP to -1400 but remain atop the leaderboard on DraftKings Sportsbook.
The No. 10 and No. 11 playoff teams are also the same as we saw in the last version of the bracket. In the first of those spots, Alabama barely remains alive after a free-fall from a previous ranking of No. 4 just a couple of weeks ago. The Crimson Tide did win 56-0 over the weekend, but the cupcake matchup against an FCS program did them no favors as their odds to make the College Football Playoff shifted from -250 to -200. They’re beginning to feel the pressure a bit, and a matchup with 5-6 Auburn could ultimately decide Bama’s fate.
At No. 11, Miami once again slots in as one of the projected conference champions. The Hurricanes beat Virginia Tech handily to earn another ACC win, and a matchup with Pittsburgh this week could knock the latter out of second place in the conference and potentially earn a place in that title game for the Hurricanes. Interestingly enough though, Miami is listed third among ACC teams in the DraftKings Sportsbook odds to make the CFP field. They’re 9-2 overall as well as 5-2 in the conference behind all of Virginia (9-2, +190), Pitt (8-3, +1200), Georgia Tech (9-2, +9000) and SMU (8-3, +100). Virginia and SMU are the two other ACC challengers to watch, especially since the latter beat Miami earlier this season. In the actual College Football Playoff rankings though, Miami slots in at 12th while Virginia is 18th and SMU is 21st.
Regardless of how the battle for the ACC shakes out, one more lucky program will sneak into the final CFP seed. We’ve talked quite a bit about how the American Conference winner will likely earn that postseason berth, though which team ends up with that honor will likely be a close battle. In the latest rankings, Tulane sits 24th and gets the last playoff spot as the fifth highest-ranked conference champion. However, the Green Wave are listed at +115 odds on DraftKings Sportsbook, a move up from +190. They’re still behind fellow AAC contender North Texas though, now listed at -145 after a shift from +100. These teams don’t play each other to close the regular season but there’s a very good chance they square off in the American Conference title game. It makes sense to see the Green Wave and Mean Green competing for the final playoff berth, but Sun Belt contender James Madison still maintains an outside chance with +900 odds to make the final field, but it’s a longer shot from last week’s +400 listing.
As for the first teams out, BYU once again headlines the group with a College Football Playoff ranking of 11th and a very minor shift from +240 odds to +270 on DraftKings Sportsbook. Fellow Big 12 program Utah sits 13th in the rankings with +700 odds, while Vanderbilt (+300) and Michigan (+350) come in as the next two out at 14th and 15th.
Here’s a look at the top-25 rankings courtesy of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee.
