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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
James Morgan

ESPN ranks teams most likely to make the CFP

ESPN’s Allstate playoff predictor has ranked the teams with the best chances to make the College Football Playoff. Last season, the playoff featured Georgia, Alabama, Cincinnati and Michigan.

This year, Georgia, Alabama and Ohio State are considered heavy favorites to make the playoffs. All three teams face challenging opponents in the first couple of weeks of the season.

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ESPN gives 16 teams a better than 2% chance to make the playoffs. Five of these teams are from the SEC, while the Big Ten has four teams.

Overall, ESPN’s playoff prediction is fairly accurate in the preseason. The model has projected that every national champion, during the playoff era, had at least a 65% chance to make the playoff entering the season.

Here’s who ESPN considers the 10 teams most likely to make the playoffs:

The Utes open the season with a challenging game at Florida.
First-year head coach Mario Cristobal and Miami have a talented returning quarterback, Tyler Van Dyke.
The Sooners had a lot of transfers, including quarterback Caleb Williams, but have a very talented…
The Longhorns have a tough Week 2 game against Alabama on Sept. 10.
Can the Wolverines make it back to the playoffs for a second consecutive season?
Notre Dame plays Ohio State out of the gate in Week 1.
Clemson has a manageable schedule, but can the Tigers' offense get back on track?
The defending national champions face Oregon in Week 1, but have a pretty easy schedule.
Alabama enters the season with the preseason No. 1 ranking in most polls.
Ohio State missed the last playoff and is very motivated to return this year.
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