College Football Playoff picks after Week 4
With six Top 25 vs. Top 25 matchups, Week 4 provided some clarity about the best four teams in the country.
Sixth-ranked Ohio State got one of the marquee wins of the season’s first month, scoring the go-ahead touchdown at No. 9 Notre Dame with just one second left for a 17-14 victory. Chip Trayanum‘s 1-yard dive is the latest go-ahead touchdown in an AP top-10 matchup since Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree scored with one second left for the No. 6 Red Raiders in 2008 against No. 1 Texas. Ohio State now has six consecutive wins against Notre Dame, tied for the third-longest win streak against the Fighting Irish in the poll era (since 1936), trailing only eight straight by USC and Michigan State.
Fourth-ranked Florida State defeated an unranked Clemson team that has dominated the ACC during the playoff era, winning the conference seven out of the past eight years. The Tigers had done so by beating the Seminoles seven times in a row entering Saturday. Florida State’s 31-24 victory — the school’s first in overtime on the road — gives it a 4-0 start for the second year in a row and has it in the driver’s seat for this season’s ACC crown.
Georgia didn’t have much trouble with UAB, earning a 49-21 win to extend its win streak to 21 — the sixth longest in SEC history. The Bulldogs have outscored opponents 56-0 in the third quarter of games this season.
Washington continues to impress, scoring 45 points by halftime against Cal. It was tied for the most points the Golden Bears have allowed in a first half. Washington has now scored at least 40 points in each of its first three games.
Michigan cruised to 4-0 by dominating previously unbeaten Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights scored on their opening touchdown with a 69-yard reception that was the longest by a visitor at Michigan Stadium since 2016. The Wolverines then scored 31 consecutive points in coach Jim Harbaugh’s return from a three-game suspension.
With all that in mind, here’s a look at how our ESPN college football writers ranked their top four this week.
Andrea Adelson: 1. Georgia 2. Florida State 3. Michigan 4. Washington
Blake Baumgartner: 1. Georgia 2. Florida State 3. Michigan 4. USC
Kyle Bonagura: 1. Georgia 2. Washington 3. Michigan 4 Texas
Bill Connelly: 1. Washington 2. Ohio State 3. Georgia 4. Texas
Heather Dinich: 1. Florida State 2. Georgia 3. Ohio State 4. Texas
David Hale: 1. Georgia 2. Florida State 3. Ohio State 4. Texas
Chris Low: 1. Florida State 2. Georgia 3. Texas, 4. Ohio State
Harry Lyles Jr.: 1. Georgia 2. Washington 3. Ohio State 4. Florida State
Ryan McGee: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Washington 4. Florida State
Adam Rittenberg: 1. Georgia 2. Florida State 3. Michigan 4. Texas
Alex Scarborough: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Florida State 4. Texas
Tom VanHaaren: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Florida State 4. USC
Paolo Uggetti: 1. Georgia 2. Washington 3. Florida State 4. Ohio State
Dave Wilson: 1. Georgia 2. Florida State 3. Ohio State 4. Texas
