In mid season form, who looks primed to take it all?

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MCT

Louisiana State running back Leonard Fournette (7) evades Florida defensive back Keanu Neal (42) at bay during the second quarter at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla., on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2014. (Eve Edelheit/Tampa Bay Times/MCT)

RYAN HERRING, Sports Columnist

We are getting into the heart of college football season now. Six weeks in and we can sit back to take a look at what we have to work with. In the first couple weeks of college football, rankings don’t mean anything. It is just an educated guess on what you can expect. Now, we know what teams are for real.  We obviously have surprises and some teams that have flopped. Not many people thought the Iowa Hawkeyes would currently be ranked No. 17, while the Auburn Tigers (who were a preseason top 10) fell out of the rankings. This is the beauty of the sport, and of sports in general: “upsets, surprises and unpredictability” is the name of the game.

It is still too early to put together four-team playoffs with confidence; there is still plenty of football yet to play. However, teams have been grinding to prove that they must be in the conversation when the playoff committee meets for the first time on Nov. 2. The playoff committee consists of 13 highly qualified individuals that know the game. Since the committee has not met yet, I have taken it upon myself to make the playoff prediction, even though I would probably have a better chance at picking the correct Powerball numbers.

No. 1 seed: Ohio State. This is a safe pick that doesn’t need much of an explanation. They are the returning champs with playmakers J.T. Barrrett, Cardale Jones, Braxton Miller and Ezekiel Elliott to go along with a stellar defense. They have had some close calls so far, but they always get the job done in the end.

No. 2 seed: LSU. The Tigers appear to be the best team in the SEC Conference. They have a clear Heisman front-runner, Leonard Fournette, who already has over 1,000 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. They have an extremely difficult schedule, but Les Miles and his team are due for a big year.

No. 3 seed: Utah. This Utah team was quiet coming into the year, but they have made some noise since then. They are coming off two back-to-back wins against Oregon and Cal. to show they are the top dogs in the Pac-12.

No. 4 seed: Baylor. The Bears are my last team in, as they will beat TCU and claim the title of Big 12 Champs. This conference felt they were snubbed out of a playoff bid last year, but Baylor’s high-powered offense is making it clear that the Big 12 deserves a bid this year. They have been flat-out dominating every game so far and have been averaging 64.2 points per game.