Where Arizona fits in 2024 Week 1 12-team College Football Playoff rankings prediction
After their win over New Mexico, Arizona moved up to 20th in the Associated Press Top 25 and 18th in the USA Today Coaches Poll. The ESPN Football Power Index ranks Arizona a bit lower than the national polls at 23. Arizona is 39th in the predictive metrics from TeamRankings.Com.
Taking a deeper look into the FPI, Arizona has the 69th-best strength of schedule and the 51st remaining strength of schedule. After playing Northern Arizona on Saturday, Arizona will finish the season with 10 straight games versus Big XII teams. That starts on September 13 at Kansas State.
Kansas State is currently 21st in the FPI. Arizona and Kansas State is not a Big XII conference games. The pair of Wildcats scheduled their game before Arizona joined the Big XII. Arizona at Kansas State is officially a non-conference game. Nonetheless, a win for Arizona on the road would be significant.
Kansas State and Central Florida are the only teams ranked ahead of Arizona in the FPI. Arizona is at Central Florida on November 2. Utah is surprisingly one spot below Arizona in the FPI. Arizona officially begins Big XII play at Utah on September 28. That is arguably the biggest game of the season for Arizona.
Seed | Team | Conference/At-Large |
|---|---|---|
1 | Georgia | SEC highest-ranked team |
2 | Ohio State | Big 10 highest-ranked team |
3 | Miami | ACC highest ranked team |
4 | Utah | Big XII highest ranked team |
5 | Alabama | SEC |
6 | Texas | SEC |
7 | Mississippi | SEC |
8 | Penn State | Big 10 |
9 | Notre Dame | Independent |
10 | Tennessee | SEC |
11 | Oklahoma | SEC |
12 | Tulane | AAC/G5 top ranked team |
The projections are primarily taken from the highest-ranked teams in the FPI and TeamRankings.Com metrics. Although Utah is the fifth-rated Big XII team in the FPI, the Utes are the highest in the Polls and TeamRankings metrics. Utah is 12th in the TeamRankings metrics.
Kansas State is the second-highest rated team in the Big XII in the TeamRankings metrics. With Arizona at Kansas State and Utah to close out September, some clarity should emerge in the Big XII at the end of the month. Arizona has a schedule set up to make a late-season run like they did in 2023.
Oregon is the most surprising team not in the College Football Playoff. The Ducks are 10th in the FPI, but 19th in the Team Rankings metrics after a 24-14 win over Idaho. Oregon hosts Boise State this week. Oregon's most important games this season are versus Ohio State on October 12 and at Michigan on November 2.
The Fiesta, Peach, Rose and Sugar Bowls are the quarterfinals this season. The Big XII champion seems like to play in the Fiesta Bowl. That could depend on if the Big 10 champion is one of the West Coast teams. The Big 10 might also want to stay with tradition and have their champion play in the Rose Bowl.
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