Week 7 12-team College Football Playoff prediction: Oregon continues its rise

Oregon Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel looks to pass as the Ducks host the Spartans Friday, Oct. 4, 2024 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore.
Oregon Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel looks to pass as the Ducks host the Spartans Friday, Oct. 4, 2024 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Week 6 of the season is in the books and the College Football Playoff field is starting to come into shape and Oregon is moving up the rankings.

With the field expanded to 12 this season, there are more important games each week. The Ducks took on Michigan State to open Week 6 on Friday night and avoided an early disaster (two Dillon Gabriel picks and a near-Spartan touchdown to open the game) to run away with a 31-10 win in Eugene. It was Oregon's biggest home win of the year.

With Oregon winning big against its second Big Ten opponent of the year to improve to 5-0, it moved up to No. 3 in the AP Top 25 and the playoff projections just got a little more interesting.

Do the Ducks jump Ohio State in the top four of the playoff projections this week?

Rank

Team

Why they're here

Last projection

1

Texas

SEC champ

5

2

Ohio State

Big Ten champ

2

3

Miami

ACC champ

3

4

Iowa State

Big 12 champ

4

5

Oregon

At-large

8

6

Georgia

At-large

7

7

Penn State

At-large

9

8

Ole Miss

At-large

NR

9

Tennessee

At-large

6

10

Clemson

At-large

NR

11

Notre Dame

At-large

NR

12

Boise State

Top G5 team

12

We see some new teams this week like Ole Miss, Clemson, and Notre Dame after taking hiatuses thanks to bad losses earlier in the year. Ole Miss lost to Kentucky at home the week prior, Clemson was blown out by Georgia to start the year, and Notre Dame dropped a shocking one at home to Northern Illinois, a loss that's looking worse by the week.

Boise State remains the top Group of Five team and the more the Broncos win, the better it looks on Oregon's resume as the Ducks beat them back in a Week 2 thriller in Eugene.

What do you think of this week's playoff projections?