Playoff Projection: Baylor rockets into high seed
Baylor beat the strongest opponent on its schedule to date Saturday when it downed West Virginia 62-38. That result seems to have made an impact on the Football Four Playoff Projection panel.
The Bears' share of the weekly group vote grew by 50% this week and earned them the No. 2 seed in the latest mock projection behind top seed Utah. The Bears had been seeded fourth the past two weeks.
"Baylor just keeps putting up absurd numbers," said panelist George Schroeder of Paste BN Sports. "It's time we stopped talking about the schedule. It's backloaded. But West Virginia's defense is not a cream puff. The Bears are really, really good."
The Utes remained the No. 1 seed for the third consecutive week, earning 33 voting points. Baylor earned 31, Ohio State 26 and LSU 19. This is the first week since the Sept. 29 vote that Utah, Baylor, Ohio State and TCU did not make up the four-team field.
"This is the first week I considered Baylor," said panelist Dan Wolken of Paste BN Sports. "Though TCU has probably played a slightly tougher schedule, the difference isn't enough to overcome the fact that Baylor has been more impressive."
Eight teams received votes this week, the fewest of the season. The top four teams accounted for 84% of the vote.
The 13-person Playoff Projection panel is based on the
Each panelist enters a four-team ballot, with four points awarded for a No. 1 vote, three for a No. 2, two for a No. 3 and one for a No. 4.
The projection is purely a mock selection with no bearing on the Playoff selection committee's decisions.
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