Bowl projections: Alabama moves to 3-seed in College Football Playoff field, Ohio State replaces Georgia

There’s never a dull moment in the SEC.

Let’s start at the top, where Ole Miss knocked Georgia from the top of the conference standings with a convincing 28-10 victory. It’s a win that puts the Rebels into contention for a College Football Playoff berth, but I do not have them projected there … yet.  The home loss to Kentucky, which may not finish with more than four wins, stands out in comparison with other potential two-loss teams.

The loss for Georgia combined with wins by Alabama and Tennessee leave me with Texas finishing first in the SEC regular season and a six-car pileup behind them of teams with two conference losses. I had to dig deep into the tiebreaker to emerge with an opponent for the Longhorns, and that team is the Crimson Tide, who would earn the conference championship berth based on the record of their conference opponents. I also project Alabama to win the SEC title game over Texas and earn a 3-seed in the playoff field.

Ohio State moves up to the top seed in the wake of Georgia’s loss. BYU is projected to finish undefeated and get the No. 2 seed. I believe the two-loss difference between BYU and Alabama should be enough for the Cougars to finish ahead Alabama, which is how the committee placed them this week.

I had previously been projecting Iowa State to be the Big 12 champ, but the Cyclones lost their second game in a row on Saturday and will need help to get to the title game now. Colorado is in the driver’s seat to join BYU after a win at Texas Tech on Saturday.