Playoff Predictions -- Week 10

ByHEATHER DINICH
November 3, 2015, 8:26 PM

— -- The College Football Playoff selection committee had to sort out 11 undefeated teams, and a one-loss Alabama team trumped most of them, cracking the top four at No. 4 in the first College Football Playoff ranking of the season, trailing No. 1 Clemson, No. 2 LSU and No. 3 Ohio State.

No. 5 Notre Dame, another one-loss team, was the first team out, and undefeated Baylor was the Big 12's top-ranked team at No. 6, followed by Michigan State at No. 7 and TCU at No. 8.

At No. 13, Memphis was the top-ranked team from a Group of 5 conference, which means it's the leading contender right now for a New Year's Six Bowl. The American Conference was well-represented, though, with Temple and Houston also in the Top 25.

Ole Miss, which lost to Memphis but beat Alabama, was No. 18.

Here's what the bracket would look like today:

As for the other major bowls, here's a projection based on the current rankings:

The Rose Bowl still gets the Pac-12 champ, which would be No. 11 Stanford, and since Ohio State is in the top four, it would choose the next-best Big Ten team, which would be No. 7 Michigan State. The Sugar Bowl is guaranteed the Big 12 champ, which would be No. 6 Baylor, but since the SEC champ and the next-highest-ranked SEC team (Alabama) are in the top four, the third-highest-ranked SEC team, SEC East champ No. 10 Florida, would go to New Orleans.

Because of geography, proximity and fan interest, No. 9 Iowa would likely go to the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. The highest-ranked conference champion from a Group of 5 conference is guaranteed a spot in a New Year's Six bowl, so Memphis would likely face Iowa in Atlanta for the same reasons. The highest-ranked available teams remaining would be No. 8 TCU vs. No. 5 Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.

Here's what New Year's Eve and New Year's Day could look like, based on today's rankings:

12/31 12 p.m. ET -- Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl: No. 9 Iowa vs. No. 13 Memphis 4 p.m. ET or 8 p.m. ET -- Capital One Orange Bowl: No. 1 Clemson vs. No. 4 Alabama (semifinal No. 1) 4 p.m. ET or 8 p.m. ET -- Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: No. 2 LSU vs. No. 3 Ohio State (semifinal No. 2)

1/1 1 p.m. ET -- Fiesta Bowl: No. 5 Notre Dame vs. No. 8 TCU 5 p.m. ET -- Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual: No. 11 Stanford vs. No. 7 Michigan State 8:30 p.m. ET -- Allstate Sugar Bowl: No. 6 Baylor vs. No. 10 Florida