After Week 9, ESPN’s 12 experts were largely in sync on how the College Football Playoff picture is shaping up, and Miami sits alone at the top of the board. The Hurricanes landed the No. 1 seed on every single ballot after their latest escape, a Saturday night win over North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Georgia was the other unanimous lock. The Bulldogs showed up on all 12 lists after rolling past Florida in Atlanta, and they’re now No. 2 in the latest AP Poll heading into a Week 10 matchup at No.
12 Ole Miss. The Rebels made the cut on 7 of the 12 expert projections.
The SEC had six teams represented across the 12 picks, with Kentucky standing out as the biggest surprise of the bunch. The Wildcats, riding a six-game winning streak coming out of a bye, appeared on every ballot. ESPN’s panel clearly believes Big Blue Nation is headed for a breakthrough run into the Playoff.
Texas also cracked the field in multiple projections, while Alabama drew 5 selections and LSU appeared on one. That makes Saturday’s Alabama-LSU meeting in Death Valley look like a major turning point, with the Crimson Tide and Tigers facing what could be a Playoff elimination game in early November.
Beyond the SEC, the experts spread their confidence around a handful of familiar names. UCLA, Utah, Notre Dame, Indiana, Wake Forest and Boise State all showed up repeatedly, while BYU, Ohio State, Texas Tech and UTSA each surfaced on at least one ballot.
Here’s how the full set of ESPN projections lined up after Week 9:
Andrea Adelson: 1. Miami 2.
Georgia 3. UCLA 4.
Utah 5. Kentucky 6.
Notre Dame 7. Wake Forest 8.
Indiana 9. Texas 10.
Ole Miss 11. Alabama 12.
Boise State
Kyle Bonagura: 1. Miami 2.
Utah 3. UCLA 4.
Georgia 5. BYU 6.
Notre Dame 7. Indiana 8.
Kentucky 9. Wake Forest 10.
Alabama 11. Ohio State 12.
Boise State
Bill Connelly: 1. Miami 2.
UCLA 3. Utah 4.
Georgia 5. Notre Dame 6.
Indiana 7. Kentucky 8.
Wake Forest 9. Boise State 10.
BYU 11. Texas Tech 12.
Ole Miss
David Hale: 1. Miami 2.
Georgia 3. UCLA 4.
Kentucky 5. Notre Dame 6.
Utah 7. Indiana 8.
Wake Forest 9. Texas 10.
Ole Miss 11. Alabama 12.
UTSA
Eli Lederman: 1. Miami 2.
Georgia 3. UCLA 4.
Utah 5. Notre Dame 6.
BYU 7. Indiana 8.
Texas 9. Kentucky 10.
Boise State 11. Wake Forest 12.
Alabama
Max Olson: 1. Miami 2.
Georgia 3. Indiana 4.
Notre Dame 5. Utah 6.
BYU 7. UCLA 8.
Kentucky 9. Texas 10.
Ohio State 11. Wake Forest 12.
Boise State
Adam Rittenberg: 1. Miami 2.
Georgia 3. UCLA 4.
Kentucky 5. Utah 6.
Notre Dame 7. Ole Miss 8.
Texas 9. Wake Forest 10.
Indiana 11. BYU 12.
Boise State
Alex Scarborough: 1. Miami 2.
Georgia 3. UCLA 4.
Kentucky 5. Notre Dame 6.
Indiana 7. Utah 8.
Texas 9. LSU 10.
BYU 11. Wake Forest 12.
Boise State
Mark Schlabach: 1. Miami 2.
Georgia 3. UCLA 4.
Utah 5. Kentucky 6.
Notre Dame 7. BYU 8.
Texas 9. Alabama 10.
Wake Forest 11. Indiana 12.
Boise State
Jake Trotter: 1. Miami 2.
Georgia 3. UCLA 4.
Utah 5. Notre Dame 6.
Kentucky 7. Indiana 8.
Ole Miss 9. Wake Forest 10.
BYU 11. Texas 12.
Boise State
Paolo Uggetti: 1. Miami 2.
Georgia 3. UCLA 4.
Utah 5. Kentucky 6.
Indiana 7. Notre Dame 8.
Wake Forest 9. BYU 10.
Texas 11. Ole Miss 12.
Boise State
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