ESPN’s latest College Football Playoff projection after Week 8 puts the SEC back in the spotlight, and Heather Dinich has five league teams in the field.
That count comes after a wild stretch that saw the SEC’s three highest-ranked teams lose in Week 7, then watched the Big 12 take its own hit in Week 8 as two of its three unbeaten teams picked up their first losses. For the moment, that chaos tilts the bracket in the SEC’s favor.
Dinich’s projected 12-team field includes Georgia, Kentucky, Texas, Ole Miss and LSU, with the Bulldogs at No. 3 and the other four SEC teams filling spots lower in the bracket. The Wildcats are the highest-ranked team among the conference’s bubble group at No. 9, followed by Texas at No.
10, Ole Miss at No. 11 and LSU at No. 12.
Kentucky’s place is the most striking piece here. The Wildcats are 7-1 overall and 5-1 in SEC play, and they’re the best-positioned active team among the league’s bubble contenders. Texas and Ole Miss each have two losses, but they both landed ahead of LSU in Dinich’s projection.
Dinich explained why she still has the Tigers hanging around the cut line: “The Tigers might have been written off more in the court of public opinion than in the committee meeting room,” Dinich said about her No. 12 team. “LSU has a bye week to prepare for its season-defining stretch against three straight ranked opponents… ESPN’s FPI gives LSU at least a 50% chance to win each of its remaining games.”
Ole Miss, meanwhile, sits just outside the projected field because the highest-ranked Group of Six team - currently Boise State - takes the automatic berth slot ahead of the Rebels. LSU’s path remains razor-thin, with Alabama up next in what amounts to a CFP elimination game on Nov. 7.
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