Nine college football teams have made it to Week 7 without a loss, but getting to December unbeaten is a mammoth obstacle for most considering the opponents left on the slate. With the first CFP selection committee rankings a few weeks away, those unblemished teams inside the top 10 and a few outside the national title conversation have a couple more games to establish resumes and further separate themselves from the rest of the pack. We're expecting multiple SEC and Big Ten three-loss teams to be in the final CFP at-large discussion later this season, so taking a loss -- or two -- down the stretch will not be season-deflating necessarily.
During a season filled with parity, don't envision multiple perfect teams in the playoff bracket. The path gets considerably more demanding from here after five previously-unbeaten teams went down in Week 6: Alabama, Duke, Nebraska, North Dakota State, Pitt and Texas. Here's a glance at the nine unblemished teams left and who they may lose to in the coming weeks.
Projected first loss: at Ole Miss, Nov. 7 Could the Bulldogs go to Oxford in a few weeks with a fierce rushing attack and bludgeon a defense that has underperformed this season? It's possible, but this offense for the Rebels has picked up yards in chunks against Kirby Smart over the last three meetings, including last season's 39-34 victory in the CFP, and won't be intimidated by Georgia's defense. Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and Ole Miss believe this is a matchup they can win, especially if they turn it into a game decided by explosive plays.
Making Georgia's secondary uncomfortable is top priority, something Alabama failed to do enough of during Saturday's loss to the Bulldogs. Georgia's had three unbeaten regular seasons under Smart and twice went on to win the national championship during those years. Is this top-ranked team as good as those 2021, 2022 and 2023 squads?
There seems to be a widespread assumption that the Hurricanes will run into a buzzsaw in South Bend next month given Miami's lack of schedule strength up to this point, but what if the inverse happens? Miami ranks No. 1 nationally in total offense and No. 6 in total defense, numbers that include road wins over Wake Forest and Clemson. The Hurricanes have the front-seven defensively to combat what Notre Dame does best, while also being armed with a quarterback who's playing more efficiently (84.2% completion rate, 15 touchdowns, no interceptions) than anyone at the position this fall.
Unless Mario Cristobal's team suffers an unexpected upset in ACC play prior to playing Notre Dame next month, that's going to be the single most impactful matchup the rest of the season in terms of CFP positioning. Unlike Miami, the Fighting Irish will come in tested against a fellow top-10 since they play BYU this coming weekend. A trip to Provo to take on BYU and a neutral-site affair with Navy are the only two matchups standing between the Fighting Irish and the most anticipated home game in years against Miami on Nov. 7.
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