Week 5 of the 2024 college football season was arguably the best week we've had so far this year. Plenty of games involving ranked teams went down to the wire, and we saw major impacts to the playoff race.
And after the dust as settled, an all-too familiar team finds itself in an all-too familiar place in the rankings...
2024 College Football Playoff predictions after Week 5
Here's how the I rank the Top-12 after Week 5...
Rank | Team | Why They Are Here | Previous Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
1. | Alabama | SEC Champion | 9. |
2. | Ohio State | Big Ten Champion | 2. |
3. | Miami | ACC Champion | 3. |
4. | BYU | Big 12 Champion | NR |
5. | Texas | At-Large | 1. |
6. | Tennessee | At-Large | 6. |
7. | Georgia | At-Large | 5. |
8. | Penn State | At-Large | 8. |
9. | Oregon | At-Large | 10. |
10. | Michigan | At-Large | 11. |
11. | Clemson | At-Large | NR2 |
12. | Boise State | Highest Ranked G5 Champion | 12. |
Dropped Out - Utah (previously 4th), Ole Miss (previously 7th)
Alabama on top, Ole Miss fails first real test, and an unexpected Big 12 leader
If you were hoping that Alabama would just fade into irrelevancy with Nick Saban no longer in charge, I'm sorry to say that's just not happening. Kalen DeBoer still has the Tide rolling, and specifically, he still has them rolling over Georgia. Bama's thrilling 41-34 victory over the Bulldogs gives them the best win of any team this season, vaulting them into the top spot. Georgia, who successfully came back from down 28-0 to the Tide before immediately relinquishing the lead, is still very much in the picture at #7.
Ole Miss spent the first four weeks of the season seemingly justifying their preseason hype by demolishing their competition, but it appears their competition really was just that bad. Because after their first real test, they now look wildly unimpressive. The Rebels lost at home to Kentucky 20-17, and now fall all the way out of the Top-12. Them falling out opened the door for another team to move into the playoff, and I went with the slightly-forgotten-about Clemson Tigers, who are back to looking like a contender in the ACC.
At this point you can expect the Big 12 selection(s) to simply be a rotating door in these rankings, and now an unexpected team jumps up to the champion's seat. BYU is 5-0. One week after obliterating contender Kansas State, they hold on for a win over Baylor for the best start in the league. Utah's home loss to Arizona drops them out of the rankings to keep us with just one team from this conference. Is BYU actually the top team? I don't know, but they've earned it so far.