The 2017 college football season is inching closer, and that means 130 FBS teams will soon start their hunt for the College Football Playoff.
Well, maybe not 130.
MORE: SN's 2017 college football predictions
Sporting News has already revealed its regular-season predictions and bowl projections, but we can trim that list of national contenders down to 10. That's right: just 10 teams.
The potential playoff pool is a little larger, but here is a conference-by-conference look at how we arrived at our projected contenders. We organized them into teams that could win the national title, teams that could make the playoff and teams that could be a wild card.
Do you agree?
ACC
National title: Florida State, Clemson
Playoff: Miami, Louisville
Wild cards: Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh
Why? Florida State and Clemson have won the last six ACC championships, so this isn't exactly ground-breaking analysis. The Seminoles, however, play Alabama and Miami within the first three weeks. Clemson plays Auburn and Louisville. That could shake up this picture by Sept. 16. Louisville is a playoff contender with Lamar Jackson, and they are one of two teams we almost upgraded to national title contender. Miami, Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh are the best bets to win the ACC Coastal Division, but they need to break up the Clemson-Florida State monopoly before they take that next step.
MORE: ACC predictions for 2017
Big Ten
National title: Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan
Playoff: Wisconsin
Wild card: Northwestern
Why? Any one of those Big Ten East powerhouses could win it all this year, even Michigan. Said Big Ten Network analyst Gerry DiNardo of the Wolverines: “Michigan has no experience but they have a great deal of talent and they can have this innocent climb as a team. Those are the most fun teams to play on and coach.” Yeah, Jim Harbaugh can work with that. Ohio State has the most talent, and Penn State has the best offense. The Badgers have an easier path, but they need to beat one of the Big Three at the Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis before we upgrade them to national title contender. If you thought the Northwestern basketball team had a bandwagon last March, then just wait to see what happens if the Wildcats are a serious contender in November.
MORE: Big Ten predictions
Big 12
National title: Oklahoma
Playoff: Oklahoma State
Wild cards: Texas, Kansas State, West Virginia
Why? There are so many unknowns in this conference that we wouldn't be surprised if any one of those five teams won the Big 12. We also wouldn't be surprised if the Big 12 was shut out of the College Football Playoff again. It comes down to quarterback play as usual in this conference, and two-time Heisman finalist Baker Mayfield remains the best bet with new coach Lincoln Riley. Oklahoma State and Kansas State have been close in the past, and this is the opportunity to take the next step. Texas and West Virginia have exciting young quarterbacks in Shane Buechele and Will Grier, respectively. The Sooners — and maybe the Cowboys — are the only teams we can picture playing for the national championship. Oklahoma State, perhaps more than any other school, needs to take advantage of this chance.
MORE: Big 12 predictions
Pac-12
National title: USC, Washington
Playoff: Utah, Stanford
Wild cards: Oregon, Washington State
Why? This doesn't break any limbs. USC, led by Sam Darnold, is one of SN's picks for the College Football Playoff championship game. We might have too much confidence in the Trojans and not enough in the Huskies, who have another talented team under Chris Petersen. While that's the popular pick for the Pac-12 championship game, a between-the-tackles Utah-Stanford matchup is entirely possible. Oregon is the X-factor team, but we're excited to see how that works out under first-year coach Willie Taggart. We know what we're going to get out of Mike Leach and Washington State, but do the Cougars have enough to win the Pac-12 North?
MORE: Pac-12 predictions
SEC
National title: Alabama, Auburn
Playoff: Florida, Georgia, LSU
Wild card: Tennessee
Why? We based our decisions on teams we could picture ruining Alabama's path to a fourth straight SEC championship. Florida, Georgia and Tennessee all could win the SEC East, but are we picking them in Atlanta? LSU will compete in the SEC West, but they have to travel to Tuscaloosa in Ed Orgeron's first year. That leaves Auburn, which has generated all kinds of excitement with transfer quarterback Jarrett Stidham. The Iron Bowl is at Jordan-Hare Stadium this year, and the Tigers pulled this off in 2010 and 2013. That's why they are here.
MORE: SEC predictions
Others
National title: None
Playoff: Notre Dame
Wild card: Boise State, South Florida
Why? Notre Dame is going to have a bounce-back season, but they can't lose more than one game to have a chance here. We're admittedly being generous and will revisit this after early-season showdowns against Georgia and Michigan State. We don't like the prospects for any Group of 5 school to reach the playoff this year, but Boise State and South Florida are the best bets to go undefeated. It won't be easy.
MORE: 15 Biggest games of 2017 season
Add it all up
National title: 10 teams
Playoff: 20
Playoff (with wild cards): 31
Why? We see 31 possible flavors in the College Football Playoff if you include wild cards, and that leaves 99 schools out before we even get started. If somebody who isn't on this list broke through, then we'd be ecstatic. That would mean there was some unexpected excitement in the regular season, and we're all for that. Sporting News, however, put Alabama, USC, Ohio State and Florida State in the College Football Playoff.
Clemson, Oklahoma, Penn State, Michigan, USC and Auburn are the other teams we could see winning it all. Those are our 10 national championship contenders, and we're comfortable with that heading into 2017. If you've got a better pick, then tweet @BillBender92 and let him have it.
