CBS Sports Unveils College Football Playoff Rankings Projection

Brad Crawford with CBS Sports unveiled his College Football Playoff rankings projection on Tuesday, heading into Week 5.

As of now, Crawford has LSU at No. 9, playing its first-round playoff game against No. 8 Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

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9. LSU
Projected final record: 10-2

Now that we have a month's worth of data points for the Tigers, they're no longer our projected SEC champion. The win at Clemson isn't nearly as sexy given Dabo Swinney's abrupt fall and there are still running game issues to sort out offensively for Brian Kelly, who's now dealing with an injury to chief ballcarrier Caden Durham ahead of Saturday's bout at Ole Miss. The Rebels are unbeaten and favored in the game, the first of many the rest of the way for the Tigers against elite competition.

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Projected College Football Playoff Rankings:
1. Miami
2. Ohio State
3. Georgia
4. Oregon
5. Texas Tech
6. Florida State
7. Texas A&M
8. Alabama
9. LSU
10. Penn State
11. Georgia Tech
12. South Florida
13. Oklahoma
14. Tennessee
15. TCU
16. Indiana
17. Ole Miss
18. Texas
19. Memphis
20. Missouri
21. Iowa State
22. Vanderbilt
23. Michigan
24. USC
25. Notre Dame

Projected first-round playoff games:
No. 12 USF at No. 5 Texas Tech
No. 9 LSU at No. 8 Alabama
No. 11 Georgia Tech at No. 6 Florida State
No. 10 Penn State at No. 7 Texas A&M