Big Ten: Ohio St and Penn St both look like strong contenders to win the East and then the title but the Michigan schools both have the capability play spoiler. Wisconsin looks good out of the West but Iowa could unseat them. Prediction: The Big Ten Champ will clench a playoff berth

ACC: Clemson looks like a lock to run the table against an incredibly weak conference slate and make yet another appearance. One loss though and the ACC will be sitting out this one

PAC 12: All hopes rest with Cal after the OOC schedule and early conference games cannibalized the league. I have little faith in Cal and anticipate the PAC 12 to miss the playoffs

Big 12: An undefeated champ will clench a berth, particularly if they are the school from Norman. If Conference play starts distributing losses across the board the Big 12 champ may need help from outside the conference to make the field.

SEC: I expect Georgia to win the East but the three headed monster of Auburn, LSU, and Bama will make things interesting in the West. A one loss non-champ from this conference is going to make a strong case for a 2nd berth for this league

ND: For now they are out and will need to win out and get some help to work themselves back into the conversation. A second loss and they are done.

G5: The road loss to Pitt was devastating to UCF. I don’t see any G5’s having strong cases for the playoffs. Right now I think the NY6 spot is Boise’s to lose. A slip up against BYU or what is shaping up to be a slate of formidable P5 slaying conference foes and that slot becomes up for grabs again.