My Way-Too-Early 2018 College Football Playoff Predictions

With a relatively underwhelming College Football Playoff semifinal last season, it's hard not to look ahead to the four teams who will make it to the 2018 College Football Playoff. After Ohio State got drubbed by the eventual champion in Clemson, the most underappreciated and fourth seeded Washington Huskies team hung around with big, bad Alabama, but Nick Saban's Crimson Tide were too much for Chris Peterson and his Huskies. 

So, that takes us to the question we all want to know, who gets in this season? The common trend for the three College Football Playoffs so far is that the committee wants to take the conference champion from four of the five Power Five conferences, with one conference being left out, the Big 12, who have failed to adapt like every other conference and install a conference championship at the end of the year. This year, however, we saw an exception with Ohio State. Penn State beat Ohio State earlier in the year and then went on to win the Big Ten championship against Wisconsin. Ohio State, however, with their lone loss against the Lions, was viewed by the comittee as a better overall team than Penn State, and leapfrogged James Franklin's Lions to make it to the their second playoff trip in three years. 

Alabama: 
This team has been to all three playoffs so far, and there's not much doubt that they will find themselves there against this year. With some key departures to the NFL Draft, Alabama may not be as invincible as in previous years, but until another SEC team challenges them, their fourth straight College Football Playoff birth is Nick Saban and co's to lose. 

http://fansided.com/2016/12/31/reuben-foster-washington-cheap-shots/





Florida State:

With Clemson coming off their national title run last season in their second straight championship appearance, people are wondering how the Tigers will fare without the best player in Clemson history and two time Heisman runner-up quarterback in Deshaun Watson. Florida State loses their star tailback Dalvin Cook, but Cam Akers, the top running back in the 2017 class is poised to step up for the Noles. Clemson loses some pivotal pieces on both sides of the ball to the NFL Draft, whereas the Seminoles lose Cook, and defensive end DeMarcus Walker. They are bringing back a bulk of their defense, including one of the nation's top corners in Derwin James, after he missed most of last season when he suffered a broken leg back in the opening month of the year. The winner of this game has gone on to win the ACC every year since 2011-- and has been in the playoff each of the past three seasons.


http://www.tomahawknation.com/2017/3/14/14918106/money-finances-2017-ncaa-tournament-basketball

Ohio State:
Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State all finished in the top 10 of the final rankings last season and it seems that one of the three will find themselves in the playoffs again this season. While Jim Harbaugh has brought Michigan back into the national spotlight quicker than expected, he loses a lot of talent to the NFL Draft, especially on the defensive side of the ball. The Wolverines lost too much talent and the turnaround is too quick for them to retool in Harbaugh's third season and find themselves in the final four this season, but their time is very near. Penn State and Ohio State both return a sizeable amount of talent and seem like the two favorites from the Big Ten East to make it to the playoff. The two teams clash in Columbus this season, and I expect a bit of a drop off from the Lions, a team who broke through into the national spotlight just a season ago. I'll take Heisman candidate J.T. Barrett and the Buckeyes to go to their third final four in four years. 


https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/26/sports/ncaafootball/ohio-state-buckeyes-michigan-wolverines-overtime.html

USC:
The Trojans are coming off a great season last year and a thrilling Rose Bowl victory over Penn State.  After a fantastic freshman campaign, especially towards the latter part of the season, and Rose Bowl especially, rising sophomore quarterback Sam Darnold seems to be the preseason Heisman trophy favorite. Losing the Trojans top two targets - Juju Smith-Schuster and Darreus Rogers, they have some promising young receivers led by Deontay Burnett who will be looking to shine right away. SC has five straight games on the slate starting in September, with home games against Stanford, and a Texas Longhorn team looking to return to the spotlight under new coach Tom Herman. With no Oregon or Washington on their regular season schedule, as long as the Trojans handle their business in the first month, there's no reason they can't find themselves in the playoff picture. 



http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-usc-rose-bowl-plaschke-20170102-story.html