Ranking the college football conferences with the very best chance at

• Heather Dinich, ESPN Senior Citizen WriterJul 13, 2023, 07:00 AM ET

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  • College football press reporter
  • Joined ESPN.com in 2007
  • Graduate of Indiana University

The SEC required only one group to reach the College Football Playoff in 2015 to earn another national title, however there were minutes– the SEC could get 3 teams in!?!— when it looked like they ‘d get more.This year,

Alabama, LSU and Tennessee will try to elbow out protecting national champion Georgia from the top spot, so prepare for discussions about several SEC groups ending up in the leading 4. They will not be the only conference with multiteam talk, though. The Big Ten produced two semifinalists last year in Ohio State and Michigan– and those schools could do it again. (Unless Penn State has something to state about it … wait, might the Big 10 get THREE groups in?!?)

While it’s certainly possible for a conference to have multiple teams end up in the selection committee’s leading four, it’s not regular. It has taken place just 3 times in the playoffs’ nine-year history (excluding the 2020 season, when Notre Dame briefly signed up with the ACC since of the COVID-19 pandemic). Alabama and Georgia both finished in the leading four in 2017 and 2021, and Ohio State and Michigan represented the Huge Ten in the CFP last season.When the CFP expands to 12 groups in 2024, this will not be considered as such a Herculean achievement– conferences will be anticipated to have at least 2 or 3 groups in the field. For one last season, however, the problem of proof remains greater for any team that does not win its conference.The choice committee need to “unequivocally”concur a group that isn’t a conference champion is one of the four best groups in the country. Usually, that has been proven through on-field supremacy (the eye test and statistics like scoring margin and a top-15 offense and defense), and strength of schedule, which positions a heavy weight on nonconference opponents and wins versus CFP leading 25 teams.Taking into consideration how the committee thinks in addition to ESPN’s Football Power Index and other aspects, here’s an early forecast on which Power 5 conferences have the best opportunity to put several groups in the playoff.