College Football Playoff watch: Breaking down way-too-early playoff contenders

Welcome to Before The Snap, For The Win’s college football series where we’ll break down the sport’s trending storylines, examine each week’s biggest matchups and track the College Football Playoff and Heisman Trophy races.

After Week 1 of the 2021 college football season, there were some very, very obvious winners, including: Alabama and quarterback Bryce Young, who broke program records as he threw for 344 yards and four touchdowns; Ole Miss, which despite being without Lane Kiffin on the sidelines, rocked Louisville; and Chip Kelly’s UCLA team toppling LSU at the Rose Bowl.

Beyond the literal game winners, defense was another big winner all around but particularly Georgia’s defensive line and pass rush. On their way to a 10-3 win, the Bulldogs sacked Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei seven times, and both teams finished with fewer than 300 total yards. And Clemson finished with just two total rushing yards, and there were eight total sacks in this game and no offensive touchdowns.

But there was also Penn State and Wisconsin’s incredible 0-0 halftime score, and Virginia Tech sacking North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell six times and intercepting three of his passes on its way to an upset win. Big defensive week if you’re into low scores and few offensive touchdowns.

So what does that mean going into Week 2?

It’s still way too early to declare anything as a sure thing in terms of the College Football Playoff. While there were some great Week 1 games, it was still Week 1 and there’s a lot of regular-season football left.

Stream live college football games every week this season from conferences across the country on ESPN+.

But for now, here’s a look at the 10 teams with the best playoff chances going into Week 2 as of Thursday, according to ESPN’s FPI.

And after Week 1, Alabama’s playoff chances, unsurprisingly, got a huge boost, while Clemson’s took a tumble — but not enough to knock the Tigers out of the top-4 teams. In fact, while Clemson was No. 1 last week with a 77.8 percent chance to make the playoff, its loss to Georgia didn’t move it below the Bulldogs, per ESPN’s FPI.

1. Alabama Crimson Tide (1-0)

• Playoff: 85.7 percent
• National championship game: 63.3 percent
• Win championship: 44.0 percent

2. Ohio State Buckeyes (1-0)

• Playoff: 66.5 percent
• National championship game: 34.3 percent
• Win championship: 16.3 percent

3. Oklahoma Sooners (1-0)

• Playoff: 54.6 percent
• National championship game: 25.1 percent
• Win championship: 10.2 percent

4. Clemson Tigers (0-1)

• Playoff: 48.6 percent
• National championship game: 26.1 percent
• Win championship: 11.9 percent

5. Georgia Bulldogs (1-0)

• Playoff: 45.3 percent
• National championship game: 21.4 percent
• Win championship: 8.7 percent

6. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1-0)

• Playoff: 21.6 percent
• National championship game: 6.0 percent
• Win championship: 1.8 percent

7. Texas A&M Aggies (1-0)

• Playoff: 15.4 percent
• National championship game: 5.7 percent
• Win championship: 1.9 percent

8. Texas Longhorns (1-0)

• Playoff: 14.7 percent
• National championship game: 4.9 percent
• Win championship: 1.5 percent

9. Florida Gators (1-0)

• Playoff: 9.3 percent
• National championship game: 3.4 percent
• Win championship: 1.1 percent

10. Penn State Nittany Lions (1-0)

• Playoff: 7.2 percent
• National championship game: 2.2 percent
• Win championship: 0.6 percent

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