The 4 Teams Projected To Compete In The First College Football Playoff

The preseason polls are out and if the voters are right (they won't be), Florida State, Alabama, Oregon, and Oklahoma will compete in the first-ever College Football Playoff.

Those teams are ranked 1-4, respectively in the preseason AP poll. The USA Today coaches poll has the same four teams ranked at the top of their poll with one minor difference. The coaches have Oklahoma ranked third and Oregon is no. 4.

Things came out a little difference at PredictionMachine.com, a site that simulated the entire college football season 50,000 times. According to their model, Florida State and Oregon will compete in the championship game. Alabama is also in the playoff. However, the model projects Ohio State as the final playoff team, replacing Oklahoma.

This is also how the bookmakers are projecting the playoff with Florida State (-250), Alabama (-130), Ohio State (eve), and Oregon (+110) as the betting favorites to be in the final four according to sportsbook Bovada.lv.

While Florida State, Alabama, and Oregon are generally considered the best three teams in the country, one reason many are high on Ohio State and Oklahoma is because of their relatively easy schedules.

Ohio State has just one regular season game scheduled against a team ranked in the preseason top 25 (at #8 Michigan State). Meanwhile, Oklahoma has two games against top-25 teams, but both are at home (#10 Baylor, #20 Kansas State).