Welcome to my College Football Playoff projections, which are a weekly feature through season’s end. I will update and adjust them each week after each Saturday’s results. Austin Mock will have his computer-based projections, which will differ greatly from my opinion-based selections.

We’ve reached the stage of the season where nothing is settled regarding the College Football Playoff, but teams are pushing themselves toward elimination with their second losses. Penn State’s shocking upset at UCLA and Texas’ weak performance at Florida have knocked both out of CFP projections for at least a month.

Only a handful of teams could still harbor CFP consideration with three losses, and neither Penn State nor Texas is among them. After sleepwalking through the nation’s worst nonconference schedule, the Nittany Lions must win out to gain consideration. The Longhorns are in a similar spot.

Penn State is the only team to fall out of my projections from last week, and Alabama jumps in to give the SEC six teams in the CFP. The SEC’s championship chase is more like warm Jell-O waiting to mold. Right now, three of the SEC’s four unbeatens are in — Oklahoma, Ole Miss and Texas A&M. Alabama, Georgia and LSU are also in the field, with Missouri and Tennessee still in the mix.

As for the rest of the field, the Big Ten trio of Ohio State, Oregon and Indiana are easy selections, as is Miami from the ACC and Texas Tech from the Big 12. The American is clearly the strongest Group of 5 conference, and Memphis is slightly ahead of North Texas and USF.

Should the first round play out as predicted, the CFP can do something the SEC has failed to do in 14 years: send Georgia to Texas A&M. There are few easier trips logistically than Memphis heading 75 miles south for its 62nd meeting with Ole Miss. Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer would make a return to Bloomington, where he spent the 2019 season as offensive coordinator. LSU and Texas Tech have played just three times historically and never in Lubbock. That would change here.

Five upcoming games with CFP significance: USF at North Texas (7:30 ET Friday, ESPN2); Alabama at Missouri (noon, ABC) Ohio State at Illinois (noon, Fox), Oklahoma vs. Texas at Dallas (3:30, ABC), Indiana at Oregon (3:30, CBS).

(Photo of Ty Simpson:  Butch Dill / Getty Images)