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Each week, The Dash reveals its projected 12-team College Football Playoff field, seeding teams as if the current day were Selection Sunday. Following Week 7, the bracket includes BYU, Miami, Ohio State, UCLA, Georgia, Notre Dame, Indiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas Tech, and Boise State. Other programs under consideration are Wake Forest, Utah, Iowa, Northwestern, Houston, SMU, LSU, USC, Alabama, Texas, Florida, James Madison, and Oregon State.
First-Round Matchups
The opening round of the playoff would feature No. 12 Boise State traveling to No. 5 Georgia, No. 11 Texas Tech visiting No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 10 Tennessee playing at No. 7 Indiana, and No. 9 Kentucky facing No. 8 Mississippi.
Quarterfinal Bowls
In the quarterfinals, the Cotton Bowl would pit No. 4 UCLA against the winner of Boise State at Georgia. The Rose Bowl would see No. 3 Ohio State take on the victor of Texas Tech at Notre Dame. The Peach Bowl matches No. 2 Miami against the Tennessee-Indiana winner, while the Fiesta Bowl has No. 1 BYU facing the Kentucky-Mississippi winner.
Season Trends
Four different teams have held the No. 1 ranking this season: Ohio State, Texas, Georgia, and Miami. Teams that have been ranked No. 2 include Oregon, Georgia, Notre Dame, and Ohio State.
For more college sports analysis, listen to the Sports Illustrated podcast Others Receiving Votes, hosted by Pat Forde, available on Apple and Spotify. The show can also be watched on SI's college YouTube channel or on SI TV.
Pat Forde is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, covering college football, college basketball, the Olympics, and horse racing. He cohosts the Others Receiving Votes podcast for SI and regularly contributes to the Tony Kornheiser Show podcast. Previously, he worked for Yahoo Sports, ESPN, and The (Louisville) Courier-Journal. Forde has earned 28 Associated Press Sports Editors writing contest awards, has been published three times in the Best American Sports Writing book series, and was nominated for the 1990 Pulitzer Prize. A past president of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and a member of the Football Writers Association of America, he resides in Louisville with his wife. They have three children, all of whom were collegiate swimmers. Follow him on Twitter @ByPatForde.