College football Week 4 bowl projections: Why all-SEC, Big Ten playoff can happen

Four leading College Football Playoff contenders have emerged through the first three weeks of the season. 

No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Alabama, last year's CFP championship game participants, hold the top two spots. No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 Michigan, the eternal Big Ten rivals, have the next two spots. 

MORE: College football playoff picture after Week 3

All four schools won in dominant fashion in Week 3. 

Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State and Michigan combined to win by an average of 53 points per game today.

— Bill Bender (@BillBender92) September 18, 2022

After all the offseason talk of the SEC and Big Ten pulling away from the rest of the Power 5, would it be possible for those two to monopolize the ninth installment of the CFP this season? The Bulldogs and Crimson Tide have played in two championship games, which shows that end of it is possible. Michigan and Ohio State would have to enter The Game with matching identical 11-0 records since they are in the same division. That hasn't happened since the legendary No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown in 2006. 

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Still, these are the four best teams right now, and that's how we have it in our Week 4 Bowl Projections. No. 5 Clemson, No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 7 USC also are in the mix as our picks to win those Power 5 conferences. 

The College Football Playoff semifinals will be on Dec. 31 this season. Those semifinals will be played at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta and the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz. The College Football Playoff championship game is on Jan. 9 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. 

Here our our latest bowl projections: 

Week 4 College Football Bowl Projections

College football New Year's Day Six picks 

College Football Playoff championship pick