Bowl projections: Georgia take top seed, Cincinnati enter college football playoffs after Alabama wrath

Texas A&M turned the 2021 college football season upside down on Saturday night by coming in from behind late to beat Alabama No.1, 41-38, at Kyle Field. This result also upset the projection of the college football qualifiers.

Let’s start with the new No.1 seed, the Georgia Bulldogs. Georgia, who were already in the CFP’s projected field, won comfortably in Auburn on Saturday, 34-10. The Bulldogs appear to have the best defense in the country, and the stats back it up. The Dawgs are the highest ranked team in Relative Total Defense and Relative Scoring Defense. And as we all know, defense wins championships.

The newly screened No.4 seed would be historic if it did. Cincinnati should now step in as the last team on the field, facing UGa in the Orange Bowl. The Bearcats would become the group of five program to be selected to play in the CFP if they win.

Cincinnati strangled Temple Friday, 52-3. While the Bearcats cannot control their schedule, they can control the way they play against him. Cincinnati handled Temple like a playoff team should. It is important for Cincy to continue to do so against such opponents.

He also needs Notre Dame’s help, which will likely be his best win. Cincinnati needs this to look as good as possible. The Fighting Irish won late at Virginia Tech, 32-29, so they’re still doing their part for the Bearcats.

Iowa knocked out Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford in the first half, then knocked out the Nittany Lions for good, 23-20. The Hawkeyes move up in the PSC screenings to second place. They should face Oklahoma. The Sooners changed quarterbacks and their fortunes in a 55-48 win over Texas, the biggest in Red River Showdown history. In this scenario, Oklahoma and Iowa would meet in the Cotton Bowl.

This projection is based on the fact that these four teams end up undefeated. Most notably, it would mean a second loss for each of Alabama and Ohio State in their respective conference championship games.

College football playoff

Those results, of course, will have a ripple effect throughout the Bowls showings, especially the rest of the New Years Six games. These expected clashes will be revealed Sunday morning in this space on CBS Sports.