Bowl projections: Ohio State rejoins College Football Playoff after Iowa upset, Oklahoma moves up

Stop me if you have heard this one before: A major upset has shaken up the College Football Playoff projections. In Week 7, it was the Purdue Boilermakers Spoilermakers knocking off previously unbeaten Iowa, 24-7. The Hawkeyes had been projected as the No. 2 seed, but they have dropped out of the playoff field for now.

Maybe they will come back later. That’s what’s happening with Ohio State, which was in the preseason CFP projection but did not last long due to a Week 2 loss at home to Oregon. Now, the Buckeyes are back as the No. 3 seed, a spot predicated on winning out and securing the Big Ten championship.

But what of Oregon? If the Ducks finish 12-1, shouldn’t they be ranked ahead of Ohio State? Perhaps, but they are not 12-1 in this projection. If they wind up with that record, the CFP Selection Committee will have a tough call. Head-to-head, which favors Oregon, is a factor in the committee’s criteria, but so is strength of schedule. Ohio State would be coming out of a stacked Big Ten East. Oregon is coming through a relatively poor Pac-12. Strength of schedule would figure to heavily favor the Buckeyes. That is a problem for another time, though.

The projected No. 2 seed is now Oklahoma, which did something on Saturday that it had not done all season: win a game over an FBS opponent by more than seven points. Oklahoma throttled TCU 52-31. The Sooners are projected to face Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.

Georgia remains the presumed top seed in the playoff following a 30-13 win over Kentucky. The loss was the first of the season for the Wildcats, which could find themselves in a New Year’s Six bowl if they can win out and finish 11-1.

The Bulldogs are slated for a date in the Orange Bowl with Cincinnati. The Bearcats are still expected to be the No. 4 seed, though they should be the No. 2 team in the AP Top 25 on Sunday. Cincinnati did what was necessary with a dominant victory over UCF on Saturday.

College Football Playoff

These results, of course, will have a ripple effect throughout the bowl projections, especially the remainder of the New Year’s Six games. Those expected matchups will be revealed on Sunday morning right in this space on CBS Sports.